Line 3

A favorable environmental verdict has enabled $2.6 billion in construction to start this year on a contested 340-mile leg of a Canadian oil export pipe replacement project across Minnesota, according to Enbridge Inc. “Enbridge continues to work with permitting agencies for the timely issuance of remaining permits in order for construction to start before year-end…

A hotly contested Minnesota leg in a $9 billion Enbridge Inc. Canadian oil export pipeline project took a step forward Monday, when state regulators granted the plan a favorable environmental verdict.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected appeals for a rerun of the state regulatory review of Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 replacement project involving the Minnesota leg of its crude pipeline, a key oil export conduit.

Completion of Enbridge Inc.’s contested Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project is a step closer but still delayed by a year until 2020 following an approval Tuesday by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC).

Enbridge Inc. said the opening of a replacement crude oil pipeline across the northern tier of Minnesota will be delayed until next year, after state regulators provided an updated timeline for when the company will receive the remaining environmental permits for the project.

Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said he plans to continue an appeal filed during the final days of the former administration over Enbridge Inc.’s plans to replace an oil pipeline across the state’s northern tier.

In a court-ordered review, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the Dakota Access Pipeline poses “no significant potential impact” to nearby hunting and fishing resources, and its crossing of the Missouri River does not create a “disproportionately high and adverse” risk to nearby Native American tribes, some of whom oppose the $3.8 billion, 1,200-mile crude oil pipeline. A federal judge ordered the review in June 2017, but allowed the pipeline to continue operations. Sponsor Energy Transfer Partners LP reported this June that the pipe, which has transported more than 100 million bbl, is moving 500,000 b/d, or close to half of the Bakken Shale’s daily production.