May 4, 2012 [News OK] - A long-awaited pipeline project aimed at reducing the glut of crude oil in storage at Cushing is nearing completion. “We are on schedule to complete construction and begin reversing the flow on the Seaway Crude Oil Pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Texas Gulf Coast as early as May 17,” Creel said.
The reversal of the Seaway pipeline by Enterprise Products Partners LP and Enbridge Inc. could be done by the middle of this month, Enterprise CEO Michael A. Creel said in a statement this week.
The line had been moving oil from the Houston area into the Cushing hub. Enterprise and Enbridge are working to increase the amount of oil the pipeline can transport to about 400,000 barrels a day by adding pump stations and other modifications.
Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association President Mike Terry said the reversal is good for state oil producers.“Additional pipeline capacity taking crude oil from Cushing to refineries along the Gulf Coast is necessary to alleviate what has become a bottleneck for crude oil produced in the middle of the country,” Terry said.
“Increasing amounts of inbound crude from Canada and the northern United States has outpaced outgoing pipeline capacity, forcing more oil into storage at Cushing and glutting the local market. The result is Oklahoma Sweet and West Texas Intermediate, historically the benchmark for global crude oil prices, has become less valuable.”
