Oil flowing east sets new paths
Oklahoma pipeline operates below capacity
A pipeline to America’s largest crude-oil hub is about to find itself in an unfamiliar position: not full.
One of the main pipelines that carries crude to Cushing, Okla., will run at less than capacity in December for the first time in nearly two and a half years. The drop in supply coincides with the opening of a pipeline to Quebec, giving shippers the option of diverting some oil from the middle of the U.S.
“There will be less light sweet crude available to make its way to Cushing,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston. “There’s going to be some significant rebalancing of where oil flows in North America.”
Shippers on Enbridge Inc.’s Spearhead pipeline only asked to transport about 155,000 barrels of crude a day in December, below the system’s capacity to move about 193,000 to Cushing from Flanagan, Ill. It’s the first time shippers haven’t filled the line since August 2013. Some months shippers request 10 times more space than is available.
The drop in Spearhead interest comes as Enbridge plans to start another pipeline carrying 300,000 barrels of crude a day from the Midwest to Montreal by the end of 2015. Suncor Energy Inc. and Valero Energy Corp. have said they plan to use the line to supply refineries in Quebec with crude from Western Canada and the U.S. Midwest.
Crude in Eastern Canada competes with the global benchmark, Brent, which is priced a few dollars higher than West Texas Intermediate in Cushing.
Enbridge next month will also start filling its Southern Access pipeline, which carries crude within Illinois from Flanagan to Patoka.