CRUDE IS ON THE MOVE
After demonstrations, political debates and bad weather, Dakota Access transports petroleum
After winter storms, heated protests, political debates and months of delay, crude oil is moving through the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The developer of the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, said Thursday that the much-fought over pipeline has begun operations, transporting crude over some 1,200 miles from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields to Patoka, Ill., and then on to refineries on the Gulf Coast. It was the subject of months of protests last year, which grew to thousands of people in size and, at times, drew clashes with police.
The protests were launched by Standing Rock Sioux, who feared that the path of pipeline, which runs under the Missouri River, not only threatened their drinking water, but also sacred burial grounds and other environmentally and culturally sensitive areas.
Environmentalists from around the country joined the protest, seeking to stop proliferation of fossils fuels blamed for accelerating climate change. Their fight against the pipeline spurred other protests in cities around the country, including Houston and Dallas, where demonstrators targeted the offices of Energy Transfer Partners and the home of the company’s chief executive, Kelcy Warren.
Energy Transfer and its
supporters argued the pipeline was carefully constructed. Pipelines are considered safer than transporting fuels by trucks or trains.
Late last year, President Barack Obama refused to approve the pipeline’s final connection, under the Missouri, and sent plans back to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for review.
Obama, who made slowing climate change one of his administration’s priorities, also blocked the Keystone XL pipline, which sought to move crude from Canada’s oil sands to Gulf Coast and other U.S. refiners.
But President Donald Trump, fulfilling campaign promises, quickly reversed Obama’s decision on both pipelines after taking office.
The pipeline is a joint venture with Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Houston-based Enbridge Energy Partners and Phillips 66.
The full pipeline, from the Bakken to the Gulf, cost nearly $5 billion. It has commitments to ship about 520,000 barrels per day and could pipe as much as 570,000 barrels per day.
Energy Transfer Partners stock rose 19 cents a share Thursday to close at $21.95.