High Prairie Pipeline Signs Anchor Shipper

abarrelfull wrote on 26 Jun 2012 06:30
Tags: n-america pipeline saddle-butte usa

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High Prairie Pipeline, LLC (High Prairie), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saddle Butte Pipeline, LLC, announced today that it reached an agreement with an anchor shipper/equity partner to transport 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) along the proposed 450-mile High Prairie Pipeline (HP Pipeline). The pipeline would safely transport more than a quarter of available domestic oil from the Bakken region in North Dakota, allowing dozens of refineries across the U.S. access to lower cost, domestic oil.

"This is a significant milestone for High Prairie. High Prairie Pipeline is a viable project that is ready to bring much-needed relief to infrastructure in North Dakota," said John Earley, President of High Prairie. "The only thing preventing development and construction now is Enbridge."

Earlier this year, Enbridge Energy LP (Enbridge) refused an interconnection with the HP Pipeline at Clearbrook, MN despite having extra capacity, and a legal obligation to accept oil for transport in its common carrier system. Enbridge has claimed that it is preserving its pipeline capacity for future transport of Canadian tar sands oil into the U.S.

With the Enbridge interconnect, the HP Pipeline would:

— be capable of transporting 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day;

— deliver domestic petroleum to the U.S. in a safer, cleaner, and more cost effective way, providing the infrastructure necessary to advance U.S. energy independence;

— significantly decrease the environmental footprint required to deliver the energy to market;

— relieve escalating safety hazards and damage to roads caused by truck traffic;

— provide greater financial benefits to American land owners and state governments;

— transport light, sweet crude from the Bakken area in North Dakota, not heavy, sour crude from Canadian tar sands.

High Prairie closed its open season on April 5 and received binding commitments from prospective shippers in support of the HP Pipeline. The anchor shipper agreement provides additional capacity commitments for the HP Pipeline. High Prairie is prepared to move forward with the development and ultimate construction of the HP Pipeline. Without further delay from Enbridge, the pipeline would be operational by late 2013.

High Prairie has become the second American company in recent weeks to file a formal complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging that Enbridge is favoring Canadian tar sands oil over domestic light, sweet crude.

• High Prairie Pipeline Signs Anchor Shipper

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