The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) secured the final regulatory approval needed to build a pump station and expand others in Illinois, projects that should help it nearly double oil capacity.

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The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) this week approved Energy Transfer LP’s plan to build a pump station in Hancock County, IL, and expand other pumps already operating in Patoka, IL. The work would boost DAPL capacity to 1.1 million b/d from 570,000 b/d.

Owned and operated by Dallas-based Energy Transfer, the 30-inch diameter system stretches 1,172 miles, from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale to the midstream operator’s Crude Oil Co. pipeline in southern Illinois, which in turn flows to the Gulf Coast.

Regulators in other affected states previously approved the...