Enbridge has filed a proposal with Michigan regulators to spend $1.3 billion doubling capacity of its Line 6B to 500,000 barrels per day in response to demand from refiners for cheap Canadian crude from the Bakken and oil sands plays.
The application to the Michigan Public Service Commission said there is growing demand that is largely driven by “ongoing and planned refinery upgrades and expansions” in Michigan and Ohio and “near-term anticipated demand increases by Eastern Canadian refineries for growing crude supplies.”
Enbridge said the project has backing from eight refineries served by the line, along with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents the line’s largest shippers.
The filing included plans to replace up to 160 miles of existing pipeline in Michigan and 50 miles of line in Indiana as part of Enbridge’s plan to retire existing pipe from a mid-2010 incident when a rupture spilled more than 20,000 barrels of crude into the Michigan river system and shut the line for more than two months.
Following the rupture, regulators ordered Enbridge to reduce pressure on the line to 231,000 bpd from 280,000 bpd.
The proposal involves laying new pipe alongside the existing line to end severe rationing of space on Line 6B and help avert a potential bottleneck stemming from the increase in oil sands and Bakken production.
The scheduled in-service date is September 2013.
—Gary Park
