Now that Enbridge is ramping up heavy Canadian crude volumes on its expanded Line 3 and Southern Access pipelines, the company said it next aims to increase capacity on its systems that connect to the Texas Gulf Coast, including potentially building a pipeline linking the Houston area to its newly acquired crude-export hub at the Port of Corpus Christi.
Enbridge is awaiting a major, regulatory contracting decision in late November on its Mainline crude pipeline system into the US and plans to provide more details on future projects at its December investors event, including potential capacity expansions to its Southern Access Extension, Flanagan South and Seaway pipelines, the company said.
Enbridge is coming off the back of a noteworthy October that saw the start-ups of its Line 3 replacement project, which increased capacity from 390,000 bpd to 760,000 bpd from the Alberta oil sands to Superior, Wisconsin, and of its Wisconsin-to-Illinois Southern Access expansion, with capacity rising from 996,000 bpd to 1.2 million bpd. Enbridge also closed in mid-October its $3 billion acquisition of the Ingleside Energy Centre, which is the US’ largest crude-exporting hub by Corpus Christi, Texas.
“Returning the line to full capacity sets us up for downstream expansion to the US Gulf Coast,” Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said of the Line 3 and Southern Access expansions on the mainline network, promoting “full path access for Canadian heavy to the US Gulf Coast” as the world continues to recover from the ongoing pandemic.
Enbridge is looking at a series of optimisation projects to increase crude capacity — using more drag-reducing agents and pump stations — such as adding another 200,000 bpd to the Mainline network; 100,000 bpd to the Southern Access Extension; 250,000 bpd to Flanagan South; and 200,000 bpd to Seaway, which stretches to Freeport, Texas and the Houston markets. The sizes of the capacity expansions are all subject to change.
“We do have a batting order of expansions – cost-effective ones – lined up,” said Colin Gruending, Enbridge liquids pipelines president. “Potentially, down the road, we could connect Seaway over to Corpus,” Gruending said. “So, you’re getting a sense of what we’re trying to build out here.”
Enbridge’s new Ingleside Energy Centre exports crude from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, but does not have easy access to Canadian barrels or the Cushing, Oklahoma storage and pricing hub.
Enbridge also is a part owner of Energy Transfer’s Bakken Pipeline, including the recently expanded Dakota Access Pipeline, to Patoka and Nederland, Texas destinations.
For more information visit www.enbridge.com
