Dakota Access pipeline linefill underway: Update

Adds details from Energy Transfer

Linefill is underway on sections of the 470,000 b/d Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL), the project's lead developer said today.

Energy Transfer Partners is planning to put the line in service in the second quarter, after completing a final water crossing in North Dakota.

The company said on 23 February that the line construction was 99pc complete and that it should be "fully line-packed and ready to go" prior to 1 June.

The construction on the final water crossing could be complete as soon as next week, Energy Transfer said today. Once it is finished, the pipeline will begin the commissioning process which includes filling the rest of the line with crude to Patoka, Illinois.

DAPL was delayed for months amid large protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and regulatory delays. It will transport crude from the Bakken in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, for further delivery to the US Gulf coast.

Energy Transfer is weighing a possible expansion to increase capacity by another 100,000 b/d.

Former President Barack Obama's administration ordered new environmental reviews of the $3.8bn project. But President Donald Trump moved to rescind the order and an easement was issued for the final crossing on 8 February, setting off a new round of legal fights.

A federal judge earlier this week denied a tribe's request to halt the flow of crude through the contested water crossing. The judge ruled that the Cheyenne Sioux River waited too long to raise claims that the presence of oil in part of the pipeline going under Lake Oahe in North Dakota would infringe on its religious rights.