MID-CONTINENT SYSTEM
The Partnership’s Mid-Continent
System has a storage capacity of
16.7 million barrels, which includes
our Cushing storage tanks pictured
above. In total, this system is
comprised of 480 miles of pipeline
and 106 storage tanks, ranging in
size from 55,000 to 575,000 barrels.
The Ozark Pipeline, transporting crude oil from Cushing to Wood River, Ill.; the West
Tulsa Pipeline, delivering crude from Cushing to refineries in the Tulsa, Okla., area; and
storage terminals at El Dorado, Kan., and Cushing together comprise the Partnership’s
Mid-Continent System. The 480 miles of pipeline within the Mid-Continent System
recorded average deliveries in 2008 of 231,000 bpd. The Partnership’s Mid-Continent
terminal facilities also are interconnected to Enbridge’s Spearhead Pipeline, which
transports crude oil from an interconnection with the Partnership’s Lakehead System
near Chicago to our Cushing storage facility. The Partnership’s Cushing Terminal, which
was expanded in 2007 with a net addition of seven tanks (3.8 million barrels), provided
an $8.7 million increase in contract and spot storage revenues in 2008. Mid-Continent
storage at Cushing and El Dorado, is comprised of 106 tanks ranging in size from 55,000
to 575,000 barrels with a total combined capacity of 16.7 million barrels.
NORTH DAKOTA SYSTEM
The Partnership’s North Dakota System provides a vital transportation route for producers
in eastern Montana, North Dakota and southern Saskatchewan seeking to transport
growing, market-constrained supplies of crude oil sourced from the Bakken Play to
refineries in the U.S. Midwest and beyond through deliveries into our Lakehead System
and into a third-party pipeline at Clearbrook, Minn. The North Dakota System comprises
approximately 330 miles of crude oil gathering lines and a 620-mile transmission
pipeline. Construction of the Phase VI expansion of the North Dakota System began in
2008. This expansion – which includes upgrades to pumping stations, additional tankage
and extensive use of drag reducing agents – is anticipated to be complete in early 2010
and will increase system capacity from 110,000 bpd to 161,000 bpd.
Looking Forward
In 2008, Enbridge and BP announced that the two companies are proposing a joint
venture to increase delivery of crude oil sourced from the expanded Lakehead System
into the Cushing Hub and onward into the U.S. Gulf Coast market. The project, if
approved, would involve the reversal of the BP No. 1 crude oil pipeline between Cushing
and the Chicago area – interconnecting with the Lakehead System at Flanagan – and
some new pipeline construction between Cushing and Houston and possibly the
Nederland, Texas, area. In early 2009, the two companies continued discussions with
potential shippers about the project and its advantages for economic transportation of
Canadian crude oil into the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast refinery markets.