Enbridge

In “one fell swoop,” Enbridge Inc. has rebalanced its business between liquids and natural gas infrastructure with the planned acquisition of Spectra Energy Corp., Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said during a conference call Tuesday.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) and Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) plan to end their transportation services and joint venture (JV) agreements for the Sandpiper Pipeline Project, a proposed 612-mile, $2.6 billion oil pipeline that would transport light crude oil from the Bakken Shale and Western Canada to Wisconsin, the two companies said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Enbridge Energy LP and several related Enbridge companies to resolve claims stemming from two separate oil spills in Marshall, MI and Romeoville, IL, in 2010. Enbridge agreed to spend at least $110 million on measures to prevent spills and improve operations across nearly 2,000 miles of its pipeline system in the Great Lakes area, and to pay $62 million in civil penalties for Clean Water Act violations, the agencies said. Enbridge will also pay more than $5.4 million in unreimbursed costs incurred by the government in connection with cleanup of the Marshall spill, as well as all future removal costs incurred by the government in connection with the spill. In addition to payments required under the proposed settlement, Enbridge has already reimbursed the government for $57.8 million in cleanup costs from the Marshall spill and $650,000 for cleanup costs from the Romeoville spill, and reportedly incurred costs in excess of $1 billion for required cleanup activities relating to the spills, the agencies said. Enbridge was held responsible for the discharge of at least 20,082 bbls of oil in Marshall and another 6,427 bbls in Romeoville. In 2012, the National Transportation Safety Board said the 30-inch diameter pipeline rupture and spill in the Kalamazoo River in Marshall was the most expensive onshore oil spill in U.S. history (see Daily GPI,July 16, 2012).

TransCanada Corp. on Monday secured Ontario and Quebec cooperation with its Energy East plan for partial conversion of its Mainline to oil service by dropping attempts to load project costs onto natural gas distribution companies.

Enbridge Inc. is in talks with Alaska officials to potentially construct, own and operate an in-state natural gas pipeline to serve interior and Southcentral Alaska. The 727-mile pipeline is a potential alternative to a larger pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project.

Enbridge Energy Partners LP won North Dakota regulatory approval for its long-sought, $2.5 billion Sandpiper oil pipeline, which is designed to stretch the reach of Bakken and western Canadian oil supplies into new markets.

FERC has approved North Dakota Pipeline’s proposed tariff structure involving committed rates for priority and non-priority service, and uncommitted rates and apportionment principles based on Commission precedent, for the company’s Sandpiper project, which would provide Bakken crude producers access to downstream markets at a new interconnection point at Superior, WI.

A new destination for shale oil, forecast to reduce market congestion and price discounting across North America, will open in central Canada as a result of a pipeline decision Thursday by the National Energy Board (NEB).

During a week in which unitholders of another midstream master limited partnership (MLP) were rocked by a distribution cut and unit sell-off, management of Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) sought Thursday to assure analysts and investors that their story is different, and “distribution is secure.”