By Ulysses Arn -
Demand for North Dakota's oil and natural gas is so great that despite the delaying by President Obama and his administration of approval of the Keystone XL pipeline a Texas company is making plans to build a new pipeline from North Dakota to existing pipelines near Patoka, Illinois that would carry more than 300,000 barrels of oil daily. The Texas firm, Energy Transfer Partners LP, has also stated that it plans to build a rail terminal facility somewhere in Illinois to ship oil to the East Coast.
The Great Falls Tribune has more:
A Texas company has obtained enough shipping commitments from oil companies to build a 1,100-mile pipeline from western North Dakota to Illinois.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP said Thursday in a statement that the “Bakken Pipeline” would move 320,000 barrels of North Dakota crude daily to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. The company said it also plans a rail terminal facility at an undisclosed location in Illinois to access East Coast refineries.
Energy Transfer Partners still needs to obtain state and federal permits for the pipeline but its statement said it has begun ordering steel and negotiating construction contracts. The company said it hopes to place the pipeline in service in 2016. Its cost was not disclosed.
As has been previously reported by Illinois Review, the New Albany oil shale formation in Southern Illinois has the potential to create more than 45,000 new jobs and result in up to $9 billion in economic activity for the state.
Currently the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is dragging its feet in implementing regulations, as mandated by state law allowing drilling/fracking of the formation, so it will be some time yet before Illinois can truly reap the kind of economic booms North Dakota and Texas are experiencing.
That said, any new rail facility anywhere in this state will lead to dozens of new full-time jobs, not to mention all the jobs for the construction of such a facility(trade Unions will be happy). Pipeline construction, maintaining and operations will also result in many jobs for our states economy.
And wouldn't it be nice if the price of gas went down just a little?
