WILLISTON -- A Texas-based company is looking to enter the Bakken crude oil shipping business.
Enterprise Products Partners of Houston is seeking customer commitments for its proposed crude oil pipeline from the Williston Basin in North Dakota to the Cushing hub in Oklahoma.
Enterprise announced a binding open season Sept. 4 to determine shipper demand for capacity on the 1,200-mile pipeline, which would also serve the Powder River and Denver Julesburg basins, according to a company news release.
“We’re providing shippers market access to Cushing’s hub in Oklahoma, one of the most liquid hubs for crude oil and one of the most attractive markets for producers in the Bakken,” spokesman Rick Rainey said Thursday.
He said producers working in the Powder River and Denver Julesburg basins would have access to those markets as well. At Cushing, shippers would have access to significant storage and pipelines serving the U.S. Gulf Coast.
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The 30-inch pipeline will have an initial capacity of 340,000 barrels per day of crude oil, expandable to more than 700,000.
Rainey said the large-scale transmission pipeline is the first significant project for Enterprise in the Bakken. He said the pipeline’s route will be determined by the commitments from shippers. The open season will help determine initial capacity.
The Bakken-to-Cushing pipeline would have the capability to transport up to six grades of crude oil and products, including Rockies Condensate and Processed Condensate, the release said. The pipeline is expected to begin service in stages, starting with the Denver Julesburg-to-Cushing portion in the fourth quarter of 2016, and should be fully operational by the third quarter of 2017. This would be contingent upon customer commitments.
The open commitment period will close Oct. 17.
In other pipeline news, the North Dakota Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing Monday in Watford City on a proposed 10.8-mile natural gas liquids pipeline in McKenzie County.
ONEOK Bakken Pipeline has submitted an application to build a pipeline that will begin at the Targa Resources Little Missouri Plant in McKenzie County and end at an interconnect with ONEOK’s existing Garden Creek Pipeline south of Arnegard.
The pipeline will transport a maximum of 10,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids to facilities in the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast for additional processing prior to distribution to various markets.
The estimated cost of the project is $6 million.
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The public hearing will be held at 9 a.m. at the Teddy’s Residential Suites, 113 9th Ave. S.E. in Watford City.
