BISMARCK-Permits for three pipeline projects were approved by state regulators Wednesday, including one project that would provide some of the Bakken crude expected to travel through the Dakota Access Pipeline project.
A 3.5-mile, 24-inch diameter crude oil pipeline proposed by Plains Terminals North Dakota LLC at a cost of $5 million was given the go-ahead by the North Dakota Public Service Commission.
The project, called the Johnson's Corner to Dakota Access Pipeline Project, would originate at the Plains Johnson's Corner Terminal and run to the Dakota Access Pipeline Johnson's Corner Terminal Facility in McKenzie County.
Construction is planned for this fall and would take two months to complete. Its maximum capacity would be 150,000 barrels per day of crude but would normally operate at 50,000 barrels per day.
The line would be remotely monitored from a control center.
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"This is one company ... anticipating Dakota Access (construction)," Julie Fedorchak, chairwoman of the PSC, said.
The Dakota Access Pipeline received PSC permit approval in January. Construction on the 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline from western North Dakota to Illinois began in the spring.
Recent protests by tribal members and activists at a location where a section of Dakota Access pipeline is to be bored under the Missouri River about half a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation have prompted dozens of arrests and heavy law enforcement presence in Morton County.
BOE Pipeline LLC
The most expensive project permitted on Wednesday was brought forward by BOE Pipeline LLC for a 41.8-mile, 16-inch diameter crude oil pipeline.
BOE Pipeline's project would begin at a location east of Johnson's Corner in McKenzie County and end at a BOE terminal near Killdeer in Dunn County. The $55 million project would connect to an existing pipeline that runs to the BOE Rail Hub southwest of Dickinson.
The maximum capacity for the pipeline would be 165,000 barrels per day of crude. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2017 and be completed in the fall.
Fedorchak said BOE Pipeline plans to bore 20 to 60 feet underneath the Little Missouri River at one point along the route. The pipeline would be remotely monitored 24 hours per day.
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Oneok project
PSC members also approved a natural gas liquids pipeline project submitted by Oneok Bakken Pipeline LLC.
The company plans to build a 14.4-mile, 16-inch diameter NGL pipeline, called the Garden Creek Loop NGL Pipeline Project, to be located in McKenzie County.
Fedorchak said a loop pipeline is a shorter segment, in parallel with an existing line, to reduce pressure and increase capacity.
The project would parallel an existing 10-inch Garden Creek line, increasing capacity from 74,000 barrels per day of NGLs to 93,000 barrels per day. Construction is tentatively planned for 2017.
Like the other projects, it would be monitored from a remote control center.
