Enbridge Energy Partners Approves Expansion of North Dakota System

abarrelfull wrote on 20 Jan 2014 06:28
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April 27, 2006

Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) (the "Partnership") today approved up to a $70 million capital expenditure for a 30,000 barrel per day (Bpd) expansion of its North Dakota crude oil system. The expansion would be staged to provide incremental capacity by October 2006, with full capacity targeted for the fourth quarter 2007. The approved expenditure is subject to final support from shippers and producers, following which the Partnership intends to file a negotiated rate settlement surcharge with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The Partnership is working closely with shippers, producers and government officials to offer expanded pipeline transportation options in response to increased petroleum production in the region. Currently 75 percent of shippers on the North Dakota System have signed letters of support for the mainline expansion.

Drilling success in Montana and North Dakota and other factors are contributing to an oversupply in the northern U.S. Rockies area; while market demands are exceeding eastbound pipeline capacity available on the North Dakota System. The expansion will improve pipeline access to the Partnership's Lakehead System from eastern Montana and North Dakota. Shippers utilizing the Lakehead System can access refinery markets in the Upper Midwest, with interconnections providing access to the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast.

Other expansions underway by Enbridge Inc. and the Partnership also will assist in providing ample transportation outlets for growing supplies of crude oil from western Canada into markets east of the Rockies. Specifically, the Partnership's Southern Access expansion will provide 400,000 Bpd of increased capacity by early 2009. In a separate decision today, the Partnership approved an increase in the pipe size for the Southern Access project from 36 inches to 42 inches, allowing for economical future expansions of up to 800,000 Bpd.

The planned expansion on the North Dakota System involves initial measures to be undertaken by Partnership to increase throughput by upgrading and testing transmission pipe segments to safely increase pipe pressure. Support from shippers is sought for a surcharge to fund the other major components of the expansion. These include 10 new or upgraded pump stations and a new 52-mile pipeline segment parallel to existing gathering pipe, to increase transport capacity out of the areas of highest production increases, such as Richland County, Mont. and western North Dakota oil fields; and additional tankage on the western portion of the system.

• Enbridge Energy Partners Approves Expansion of North Dakota System

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