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Hearing in Kenmare Thursday for construction of crude oil pipeline and new pumping stations at Kenaston and Lignite

Members of the North Dakota Public Service Commission will be in town on Thursday to hold a public hearing on applications submitted by Enbridge Pipelines (North Dakota) LLC regarding the construction of 11 miles of 12-inch crude oil pipeline, a new pumping station located near Kenaston, a new pump station near Lignite and station modifications at the existing Berthold Pump Station.

1/19/11 (Wed)

PSC hearing will also include Berthold Pumping Station modifications

 

By Caroline Downs

 

Members of the North Dakota Public Service Commission will be in town on Thursday to hold a public hearing on applications submitted by Enbridge Pipelines (North Dakota) LLC regarding the construction of 11 miles of 12-inch crude oil pipeline, a new pumping station located near Kenaston, a new pump station near Lignite and station modifications at the existing Berthold Pump Station.

 

The meeting begins at 10 am on January 20 at the Kenmare Memorial Hall, located at 5 3rd Street NE, just off Central Avenue.

 

Enbridge filed the necessary paperwork for those projects on November 5, 2010.

 

According to applications filed November 17, 2010, Enbridge is also seeking authorization to construct nearly 56 miles of 16-inch crude oil pipeline from its Beaver Lodge Station east to Berthold and for construction on upgrades to its Beaver Lodge Station, Stanley Station and Berthold Station.

 

Enbridge community relations advisor Kelsey Myhre explained all the proposed construction is part of the company’s Bakken Expansion Program. “This will add 145,000 barrels per day additional capacity by early 2013,” she said. “Our current North Dakota system has operated at full capacity since 2006, with 161,500 barrels per day. We have more shippers who want capacity.”

 

She said Enbridge wants to meet the needs of oil producers in North Dakota. “Our goal is to be ahead of the curve,” she said. “We see the product curve going up and up, so our production capacity needs to meet that demand.”

 

The projects listed in the application filed November 5th will address upgrades to a pipeline that hasn’t flowed oil since 2008, with modifications to the Berthold and Lignite pumping stations and a new Kenaston pumping station seen as key components to another step in the expansion, known as the Portal Reversal.

 

A pipeline running from Berthold north through Lignite to Steelman, Saskatchewan, formerly transported oil from Canada into the U.S. Now, Enbridge has started to modify that same pipeline by changing the pumps to flow oil from North Dakota into the Canadian lines and on to larger markets in the U.S. “That would be a 25,000 barrels per day capacity that we hope to have up and running early in 2011,” Myhre said.

 

The Beaver Lodge Loop, related to the November 17th filing by Enbridge, includes the addition of a second pipeline running adjacent to the pipeline that already exists between Beaver Lodge and Berthold. That second line would carry the additional 145,000 barrels per day that Enbridge wants to offer shippers, and a new storage tank at the Stanley Station could hold 80,000 barrels of oil at any given time, waiting to be injected into the pipeline.

 

“Pending regulatory approval, construction on these projects will begin in 2011 and continue through 2012,” said Myhre.

 

The Public Service Commission will discuss these applications and their potential impact on human, environmental and resource use of the locations in question. The Commission will also consider these projects’ potential ability to ensure continuing reliability and integrity to meet and fulfill energy needs.

 

The public is invited to attend the hearing.