Random Update Regarding Enbridge Clipper -- Line 3 -- US Pipeline Grid -- September 8, 2014

I think regular readers are aware of this. Posting it for the archives. Forbes is reporting:

We’ve already seen an increase in rail shipments of crude oil, a trend that shows little sign of abating. Now, the Canadian pipeline company Enbridge says it found a way to avoid the border crossing brouhaha that has delayed Keystone construction for years.
Building a new pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border requires approval from the U.S. State Department, which is where environmental groups have applied much of their lobbying effort on the Keystone project, proposed by TransCanada . As a result, the Obama administration has left the project in limbo and is unlikely to take it up before the mid-term elections. 

Enbridge has a similar proposal pending that would expand its Alberta Clipper line. Instead of waiting, the company said it plans to build a link to an adjacent pipeline, known as Line 3, which already crosses the border. Enbridge will move the oil from the Alberta Clipper to Line 3 about a mile and half north of the border, send it into the U.S., then transfer it back to the main line at another interconnect about 16 miles into the U.S.

Because the only new construction is the link in Canada, and Line 3 already has permission to bring oil into the country, no additional approvals are needed.
It isn’t a permanent solution. Enbridge wants to almost double the capacity of the Alberta Clipper to 880,000 barrels a day, but the move would provide a temporary increase in capacity for exporting Canadian crude, which has been constrained by a lack of pipelines.

With regard to Line 3, at the Enbridge website:

The $7.5-billion Line 3 Replacement (L3R) Program is the largest project in Enbridge history, and includes replacing the existing pipe with modern pipe materials utilizing modern construction methods -- resulting in restoration of one of Enbridge's primary pipelines along its Mainline crude oil system.

Under the Line 3 Replacement Program, the majority of the existing Line 3 will be fully replaced with new pipeline and associated facilities on either side of the Canada-U.S. international border. The total length of the pipeline replacement is 1,031 miles.

On the Canadian side of the border, Enbridge Pipelines Inc. has announced plans to undertake an approximately $4.9-billion replacement program for its Line 3 pipeline running between Enbridge’s existing Hardisty Terminal in east-central Alberta and Gretna, Manitoba.

Similarly, in the U.S., Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. will undertake an approximately US$2.6-billion replacement program for its Line 3 pipeline running between Neche, North Dakota, and Enbridge's existing Superior Station and Terminal Facility in Superior, Wisconsin.

Collectively, these programs are known as the Line 3 Replacement Program – an important undertaking that will address integrity requirements, improve the reliability and safety of Enbridge’s Mainline system, and restore pipeline capability. The program’s target in-service date is the second half of 2017.

The Line 3 Replacement Program will replace the existing 34-inch-diameter pipeline with a 36-inch-diameter pipeline from Hardisty to Gretna on the Canadian side, and from Neche, N.D., to Superior on the U.S. side. Segments of Line 3 from the Canadian border to Neche, N.D., and near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border to the Superior terminal, are being replaced under separate segment replacement projects.

Neche, ND, is located in northeastern corner of North Dakota, on the Pembina River.