Houston’s Enbridge Energy Partners LP and Enbridge Income Fund in Calgary have launched a joint project to expand crude oil pipeline capacity to accommodate rapidly growing production in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota and Montana in the US and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

The $549.8 million Bakken Expansion Program is expected to be completed by 2013 and will transport approximately 145,000 barrels per day of oil, which can be expanded to 325,000 bpd at relatively low cost, says an Enbridge spokesman. 

The program will originate at Beaver Lodge Station near Tioga, ND, in the heart of the Bakken, and will follow existing Enbridge Energy and Enbridge Income Fund’s rights of way to terminate at, and deliver to, the Enbridge mainline terminal at Cromer, Manitoba. 

“We are confident that this series of expansions will relieve much of the current demand for pipeline capacity out of the Bakken and Three Forks production areas as well as provide the foundation for timely future expansions to meet the needs of the region,” said Stephen Wuori, executive vice president for liquids pipelines at Enbridge. 

“The suite of projects we’re proposing will provide firm access from North Dakota oilfields to the 2 million barrel per day Enbridge Mainline System,” he said. “Along with ongoing reliable service for existing shippers on EEP’s North Dakota System and ENF’s Saskatchewan system, the expanded systems optimize segregated light sweet pipeline capacity serving the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest and the Midcontinent refinery markets connected to Cushing, Okla. 

"By providing shippers with timely, cost-effective, long-haul and long-term transportation solutions, Enbridge's Bakken Expansion Program will give them the best options and greatest connectivity into North American refinery and marketing hubs,” Wuori added. 

Enbridge Inc. is the general partner of Houston-based Enbridge Energy Partners.