U.S. Crude Oil Pipeline Startups to Total 1.5 Million Barrels per Day in Third-Quarter 2014

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As production in the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale plays continues to increase, so has the number of pipeline projects to provide producers with access to the market. According to Industrial Info's Industrial Project Database, 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil pipeline capacity is expected to be brought online in the third quarter of 2014.

Much of that capacity will carry crude from the Bakken and Canada to Cushing, but a similarly large portion is expected to send Eagle Ford and Permian Basin crude to Gulf Coast refining hubs. Some big names, like the 600,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Flanagan South pipeline, which is owned and operated by Enbridge Incorporated (NYSE:ENB) (Calgary, Alberta), are slated for start-up in the third quarter, along with lesser-known systems like Medallion Midstream LLC's (Irving, Texas) 40,000-BBL/d Wolfcamp Connector pipeline.

Another big-name pipeline set to start up in the third quarter is the BridgeTex pipeline, primarily owned and operated by Magellan Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:MMP) (Tulsa, Oklahoma). The 278,000-BBL/d BridgeTex pipeline goes from Colorado City to Texas City, and is expected to begin shipping crude oil along the majority first half of its line next week, with the remaining portion leading to Texas City to be brought online in mid-July.

Connected to the BridgeTex line are two smaller lines that will be brought online in the same quarter: the aforementioned Wolfcamp Connector and the 75,000-BBL/d Cline Shale pipeline, which is owned and operated by Centurion Pipeline, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) (Los Angeles). Both of these pipelines feed into BridgeTex's origin, Colorado City. The Wolfcamp Connector and the Cline Shale Pipeline are expected to be brought online in September and July, respectively.

Kinder Morgan Incorporated (NYSE:KMI) is expecting to see completion of the Helena-DeWitt lateral on its Kinder Morgan Crude and Condensate (KMCC) pipeline by the end of the third quarter. Completion of this lateral brings KMI's system one step closer to connecting its terminal in Gardendale to Houston, providing important access for Eagle Ford producers to Gulf Coast refiners.

Alongside Flanagan South, two other Cushing-bound pipelines are set to start up in the third quarter: Hiland Partners' (Enid, Oklahoma) 50,000-BBL/d Double H pipeline and Tallgrass Energy LP's (NYSE:TEP) (Leawood, Kansas) 230,000-BBL/d Pony Express pipeline projects. The Double H is slated to carry Bakken crude from North Dakota to Guernsey, Wyoming, where it will interconnect with the Pony Express pipeline to continue on to Cushing.

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