Enbridge delays two oil pipeline projects in Minnesota, US

Enbridge Energy Partners has delayed its two oil pipeline projects in northern Minnesota, US, and stated they will not be ready until early 2019 as they are required to undergo an environmental review.

Delaying the Sandpiper Pipeline and Line 3 Replacement projects, which have been targeted for completion in 2017, will allow the company to defer some of costs that are needed to construct them.

In August 2015, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that prior to issuance of a grant by the state Public Utilities Commission, Sandpiper will have to undergo a full environmental review.

Line 3 Replacement project is linked to Sandpiper as both the project’s share most of the same route across the region.

Both pipeline projects are expected to cost a total of $2.6bn.

The company allocated a $195m investment for the Sandpiper project and $65m for the Line 3 Replacement project in 2015.

This year the respective costs of these projects are set to be $85m and $185m, while some of the investment is planned to be shifted by the company into later years.

North Dakota Pipeline is a joint venture between Enbridge Energy Partners and Williston Basin Pipe Line, proposing to build the 616-mile Sandpiper Pipeline project.

The project has been planned to transport light crude oil from Enbridge’s Beaver Lodge Station, near Tioga, North Dakota, through Clearbrook, Minnesota, to an existing terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.

The 1,097-mile Line 3 was built in the 1960s and will transport Canadian crude from Alberta and is operating at reduced capacity for safety reasons.