Dakota Access pipeline expansion navigates varied state processes
Loren Flaugh
Primghar, Iowa
Energy Transfer LP’s plans to expand capacity of its 30-in. OD, 1,172-mile Dakota Access (DAPL) crude oil pipeline include new pump stations in Emmons County, ND, and Lincoln County, SD, southeast of Harrisburg. The company intends to more than double the 2-year old pipeline’s capacity to 1.1-million b/d from 570,000 b/d, moving Bakken shale light sweet crude production from western North Dakota through South Dakota, and Iowa, to storage in Patoka, Ill. State and local regulatory agency approvals are still pending, as are construction permits.
The driving force behind expanding Energy Transfer’s common-carrier DAPL system has been steadily rising oil production in Williston basin’s Bakken-Three Forks shale region. When the pipeline was proposed in mid-2014, daily Bakken shale oil production was about 900,000 b/d. North Dakota’s Oil and Gas Division reported July 2019 production of 1.4-million b/d.
Energy Transfer has submitted the required information to the appropriate entities in each state to obtain necessary approvals and has received them in South Dakota and North Dakota.
The company filed with the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) applications explaining why it needs the proposed capacity increase and where work in Iowa will occur. Community organizers Bold Iowa, established in 2016 to fight DAPL’s construction, are among the organization that have filed objections with IUB regarding the expansion project. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which likewise protested DAPL’s construction, has also objected to the expansion plans.
Background
IUB approved pipeline construction Mar. 10, 2016. Work on the project through Iowa was largely finished later that year. On June 12, 2019, Dakota Access filed with the board notice of certain improvements that it intends to make to DAPL’s Cambridge, Iowa, pumping station. Dakota Access stated the improvements were needed to address growing demand for Bakken crude oil transportation services from new shippers.
New and existing shippers had committed to moving additional volumes by participating in an open season that concluded in December 2018. The volumes committed far exceeded DAPL’s current capacity. Energy Transfer subsidiaries Dakota Access and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Co. LLC (ETCO) on July 15, 2019, launched a binding supplemental open season to solicit additional shipper commitments for transportation service to both Patoka and Nederland, Tex., through their respective pipeline systems (collectively, the Bakken Pipeline system). Dakota Access and ETCO anticipate that incremental capacity on the Bakken Pipeline system will be determined based on committed subscriptions made by shippers during the supplemental open season in addition to commitments received during the open season that ended in December 2018.
Each of DAPL’s new pump stations will cost $35-40 million, with upgrades to each existing pump station coming in at $13-15 million. Energy Transfer also plans to build the 75-mile Ted Collins Pipeline connecting its crude terminals in Nederland and St. James, La., and is in the process of applying for a deepwater port offshore Louisiana. Pending regulatory approvals the company hopes to start exports by 2023.
Energy Transfer owns 36.4% of Bakken Pipeline and operates the system. MarEn Bakken Co. LLC (38.6%), owned by MPLX LP and Enbridge Energy Partners LP, and Phillips 66 Partners (25%) are Energy Transfers partners in the pipeline.
Iowa
Dakota Access stated that work in Iowa related to the expansion would be confined to the Cambridge pumping station and would not involve any extension or relocation of the pipeline, nor any work on the mainline itself.
In the IUB filing, Dakota Access stated that the three pumps at the station will be replaced with three higher-volume pumps and two more pumps and motors added. Dakota Access said the improvements will not require any change or additional acquisition of rights or interests in real property at the Cambridge pumping station. Furthermore, the increase in throughput will not require or result in an increase in DAPL’s 1,400-psi maximum allowable operating pressure.
The IUB said in January 2020 that Dakota Access must provide expert testimony supporting its assertion that neither increasing DAPL’s capacity nor the drag reducing agents that will be used to help boost capacity will increase the likelihood of spills. Witnesses have been providing this testimony on Energy Transfer’s behalf. Other states have not imposed this requirement.
South Dakota
Lincoln County, SD, commissioners have approved DAPL’s new pump station, according to information filed with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). State approval is not required.
DAPL had purchased an option for a site near Harrisburg which it will now execute to acquire the property from its landowner. Current zoning is compatible with the site’s purpose. The new station will have five pumps and motors and the area of the site will be exactly the same as the system’s existing pump stations.
The three pumps at the existing Redfield, SD, station near Huron will be replaced with three higher flow rate pumps. A fourth and fifth pump and motor will be added to this station, gradually increasing the pipeline’s capacity.
North Dakota
Filings made with the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) list a new Emmons County, ND, pump station consisting of five, 6,000-hp electrically driven motors and pumps contained within a building. The building will be insulated with sound-attenuating material to manage noise. An electrical substation will provide power for the pump station as part of DAPL’s surge management system. DAPL also plans to build a 12,000-15,000 bbl tank onsite. The fence line of the property will encompass about 20.8 acres.
Dakota Access hopes to start construction this year, pending receipt of approvals in each state. The company expects construction to take 8-10 months, for an in-service date between third-quarter 2020 and first-quarter 2021. Once work begins the company has agreed to send a representative to Emmons County monthly commissioners’ meetings to provide progress updates.
In January 2020 the North Dakota PSC said that it would not impose conditions on the project beyond those required by the federal government. The Commission approved the project in February. Dakota Access will spend $35-40 million in North Dakota on the modifications.
Illinois
Information filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) said DAPL and ETCO plan to build and operate a new pump station near Carthage in Hancock County, Ill. It will consist of new centrifugal pumping units totaling 30,000 hp. Energy Transfer also wants to add two pumps and replace two others at a hub near Patoka.
On Jan. 28, 2020, ICC issued a notice of continuance regarding evidentiary hearings addressing DAPL, adding Mar. 4-6, 2020, hearings to the already scheduled hearings set for Feb. 10-11. Labor unions have intervened with ICC on the project’s behalf, citing its economic benefits.
The author
Loren Gaylord Flaugh ([email protected]) is a freelance writer based in Primghar, Iowa. Previous work includes more than 12 years with Dresser Engineering, many of them spent as a power and control technician on pipelines and other petroleum sites in numerous states. Flaugh graduated (1966) from Paullina Community School in Paullina, Iowa, before enlisting in the US Navy Reserve Seabees and serving 2 years in Vietnam.