Opposition organizes to Canada-New England tarsands pipeline

A proposal by Canadian Energy giant Enbridge, Inc. to partially reverse the flow of a Canadian pipeline has received 41,000 comments in opposition.

The reversal is the first step in a plan to ship tarsands oil through New England in order to access East Coast and overseas markets.

Comments to the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) expressed concerns about the environmental and public health impacts of the proposal.

The NEB, the Canadian federal agency that oversees permitting interprovincial pipelines, is reviewing Enbridge's proposal to reverse the flow direction of a portion of its aging 62-year-old pipeline to move tar sands crude approximately 125 miles from Sarnia to the Westover Oil Terminal, outside of Hamilton, Ontario. Pipeline companies have sent clear signals that the real intent is a long-range plan to ship tar sands oil further on through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to tankers in Portland harbor for Eastern U.S. and overseas markets.

"A more responsible approach would be for the Canadian Energy Board to order an investigation into the full environmental impact of the larger project, including the safety implications of shipping tar sands and impacts on the environment, waterways and communities and carbon pollution from burning tar sands oil," said Jim Murphy, senior counsel at NWF. "Enbridge is trying to skirt scrutiny and downplay their goals by breaking the plan into smaller pieces. The public isn't fooled. New Englanders are opposed to tar sands in our region and demand a transparent process."

The latest permit application follows Enbridge's 2008 effort, a pipeline project called "Trailbreaker" to move tar sands oil 750 miles from mining operations in Alberta through Ontario and Quebec and across New England to Portland, Maine, where the crude would be loaded onto tankers for export. Purportedly due to the economic downturn, Enbridge temporarily shelved the project.

"The people of Vermont do not want to live side-by-side with the dirtiest fuel in existence flowing through our communities, threatening to seep into our streams and lakes and pollute our natural resources. The Canadian government should stop this spurious scheme," said Steve Crowley, chair of the Vermont Sierra Club. "Not only can pipelines rupture, pumping stations can break down too, wreaking untold harm on a community."

Alberta tar sands oil is a heavily-polluting type of viscous crude oil, a mixture of sand, clay, water and bitumen, that must be diluted before it can be pumped through pipelines. Diluted bitumen is more corrosive on pipelines than conventional oil and harder to clean up when spilled, as proven by the devastating spill of over 800,000 gallons from an Enbridge pipeline of over one million gallons into Michigan's Kalamazoo River in 2010.

The coalition of U.S. and Canadian public interest and environmental groups leading efforts to stop the Trailbreaker pipeline include:

• 350.org
• Conservation Law Foundation
• Environmental Defense Canada
• Environment Maine
• Environment Northeast
• Èquiterre
• Friends of the Earth
• Natural Resources Council of Maine
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• National Wildlife Federation
• Sierra Club

Enbridge to spend $3.8 billion on pipeline to take oil sands crude to U.S. Gulf

HOUSTON & CALGARY, Alta. - Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. on March 26 announced that they have secured capacity commitments from shippers to proceed with an expansion of the Seaway Pipeline that will more than double its capacity to 850,000 b/d by mid-2014.

During the supplemental binding open commitment period, Enterprise and Enbridge received additional commitments with terms ranging from five to 20 years that support construction of a 512-mile, 30-inch diameter twin (a parallel line) along the route of the Seaway Pipeline, adding 450,000 barrels per day (b/d) of capacity to the existing system. This capacity can be cost-effectively expanded on a timely basis with the addition of incremental pump stations.

The additional commitments obtained for the Seaway Pipeline System include five and 10-year commitments for volumes originating at Cushing, Okla., and 10, 15 and 20-year commitments for volumes originating at Flanagan, Ill., and transiting to the Seaway System via Enbridge’s Flanagan South Pipeline.

Substantially all of the initial capacity of the Seaway System has been contracted for these terms.

Enterprise and Enbridge are nearing completion of the first phase of the reversal of the Seaway Pipeline, which will provide 150,000 b/d of southbound takeaway capacity from Cushing to the Gulf Coast by June 1, 2012. Following pump station additions and modifications, which are expected to be completed by the first quarter 2013, capacity would increase to 400,000 b/d, assuming a mix of light and heavy grades of crude oil.

"Based on the tremendous response to the open commitment period, shippers have recognized the advantages Seaway offers in being able to provide a timely, economic and complete solution for relieving not only the bottleneck at Cushing but facilitating the development and delivery of North American energy reserves," said Michael A. Creel, president and chief executive officer of Enterprise's general partner. "In addition to promoting energy independence, the Seaway expansion will also offer economic benefits, including job opportunities during construction and at North American mills that we expect will provide the pipe for the project."

"Expansion of the Seaway Pipeline, along with Enbridge's Flanagan South Project, will provide crude oil producers in the Bakken region and other emerging crude oil sources capacity to move secure, reliable supply to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, offsetting supplies of imported crude,” said Pat Daniel, CEO, Enbridge Inc. "By leveraging existing infrastructure wherever possible, impacts to landowners, communities and the environment will be minimized."

The Seaway partners previously announced construction of a new 85-mile 30-inch diameter pipeline that will be built from Enterprise's ECHO crude oil terminal southeast of Houston to the Port Arthur/Beaumont, Texas refining center, which will give shippers access to heavy oil refineries on the Gulf Coast. Service on the pipeline to Port Arthur/Beaumont is expected to begin in early 2014. A separate open season for the ECHO to Port Arthur leg is under way and due to end April 13, 2012. This open season is offering interested shippers 200,000 b/d of incremental capacity over and above the volumes already subscribed to as part of the Seaway reversal project.

Enbridge line will send Canadian tarsands bitumen from Illinois to Cushing

PEKIN, Ill. - A portion of a proposed $1.9 billion pipeline to carry crude oil from Illinois to Oklahoma before heading south to refineries on the Gulf Coast would cut through parts of Livingston, Woodford, Tazewell, Mason and Fulton counties in Illinois.

Being called the Flanagan South Pipeline, the large-scale project by Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. would parallel much of the oil shipper's already existing 650-mile Spearhead Pipeline from Flanagan to Cushing, Okla., site of one of the nation's largest storage facilities for crude oil.

"We've sent a mailing to county commissioners as well as to landowners who might be impacted by the route," Kevin O'Connor, a spokesman for the project, said on Jan. 26.

"We're going to be out in the next several weeks doing some civil surveys, and eventually some environmental surveys to start to give us a better handle of specifics out on the ground."

O'Connor said the diameter of the pipeline currently being considered is 30 inches. The capacity also is still to be determined. The Spearhead line it would parallel, built in the early 1960s, is a 22-inch to 24-inch pipeline that carries 193,300 barrels per day (b/d), according to the company's website.

Provided the pipeline receives the necessary federal and state approval to proceed, construction could begin as soon as mid-year 2013 and be completed by the following year, O'Connor said. It is unclear how many construction jobs the project would entail.

ETP sues Enterprise, Enbridge over pipeline joint venture

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners L.P. is accusing Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners L.P. of wrongly backing out of a joint pipeline venture while pursuing a similar project with a third party.

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ETP) filed the lawsuit against Enterprise (NYSE: EDP) and Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB), on Sept. 30 in State District Court in Dallas.

In the lawsuit, ETP said it formed a joint venture in April with Enterprise called Double E Crude Pipeline LLC to build an oil pipeline from Cushing, Okla., to the Gulf Coast.

ETP said Enterprise later claimed that the pipeline was not economically viable and broke the terms of the joint venture by sending out a news release without ETP's consent saying the Double E joint venture was terminated.

On Sept. 29, Enterprise announced a deal with Enbridge to build a crude oil pipeline, called the Wrangler Pipeline, from Cushing to the Gulf Coast.

ETP claims in the lawsuit that Enbridge and Enterprise discussed the new pipeline before Enterprise terminated its joint venture with ETP.

Tioga Lateral to connect Bakken natural gas production to Alliance Pipeline

CALGARY, Alta. - Veresen Inc. and Enbridge Inc., joint owners of the Alliance Pipeline, on Sept. 27 announced approval by their respective boards of directors that will allow Alliance to proceed with development of a natural gas pipeline lateral and associated facilities to connect production from the Hess Tioga field processing plant in the Bakken region of North Dakota to the Alliance mainline near Sherwood, N.D.

Alliance has executed a precedent agreement with Hess Corp. as an anchor shipper on the Tioga Lateral pipeline, including matching capacity on the Alliance mainline. Aux Sable (owned by Veresen, Enbridge and Williams Partners, L.P.) and Hess have reached a concurrent agreement for the provision of NGL services.

The pipeline is expected to be in service by the third quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory and other required approvals.

The 77-mile Tioga Lateral will facilitate movement of the high-energy, liquids-rich natural gas to natural gas liquid (NGL) processing facilities owned by Aux Sable Liquids Products at the terminus of the Alliance mainline system.

Through the agreement with Hess, Alliance has secured sufficient commitment to proceed with the Tioga Lateral and will hold an open season to solicit additional shipper interest. The pipeline will have an initial design capacity of approximately 120 million cubic feet per day, which can be expanded based on shipper demand.