Rising volumes of Canadian crude flowing into the Midwest, especially the delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contract in Cushing, have helped push U.S. oil futures CLc1 to a record discount to Brent crude LCOc1 this year.

The spread between the two contracts CL-LCO1=R hit a record over $23.57 a barrel on July 14 but has since narrowed to around $22.

Here is a list of oil pipeline projects in the Gulf of Mexico and midcontinent regions, either recently completed or in the works:

ENTERPRISE/ENERGY TRANSFER

Planned:

The two companies plan a joint venture to construct a 400,000 barrel-per-day, 584-mile (940-km) pipeline to ship crude from Cushing to Houston, which would be completed by the end of 2012.

The project also includes construction of an additional 500,000 barrels of crude oil storage at Enterprise’s existing crude oil storage facility in Houston.

TRANSCANADA CORP

Completed:

Keystone Pipeline – The Keystone line carries 590,000 bpd of Canadian oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to Patoka and Wood River, Illinois, and to the storage hub at Cushing.

The company completed the second phase of the line, from Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing, earlier this year, pushing capacity up from the 435,000 bpd that flowed to the Illinois destinations.

Proposed:

Keystone XL – The Keystone XL project will run 2,673 km (1,661 miles) from Hardisty, to Port Arthur, Texas, and carry 500,000 bpd, with the additional pipe boosting the capacity of the entire system to 1.1 million bpd.

The Keystone XL project is scheduled to be completed by 2013. However, it has yet to receive final approvals from the U.S. government and faces opposition from some federal and state lawmakers, as well as environmentalists, who worry about the impact of increased Canadian oil sands development on air, land, water and local communities. Some oppose the route across Nebraska and its massive Ogallala aquifer.

The company expects Keystone and Keystone XL to cost a combined $13 billion.

Bakken Marketlink – The $140 million project will carry as much as 100,000 bpd of oil from Baker, Montana, in the northern U.S. portion of the Bakken field and connect with the Keystone XL line to carry it to Cushing.

Shippers have signed binding contracts for 65,000 bpd on the planned line.

ENBRIDGE INC

Completed:

Alberta Clipper Pipeline – Opened in April 2010, carrying 450,000 bpd. The $3.3 billion project runs 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from Hardisty to Superior, Wisconsin, and forms part of the company’s 2 million bpd mainline system, which handles the bulk of Canada’s crude oil exports to the United States.

The line can be expanded to handle as much as 800,000 bpd.

Proposed:

Bakken Expansion – The $560 million project would ship 145,000 bpd from producers in Saskatchewan and North Dakota’s Bakken field. The expansion, to be completed by late 2012, will take the oil from the region to a connection with Enbridge’s mainline system at Cromer, Manitoba.

The expansion could eventually handle 325,00 bpd.

Monarch Pipeline – The company is proposing a system with two legs. The first would carry 200,000 to 300,000 bpd from Flanagan, Illinois, to Cushing. The southern leg would deliver as much as 350,000 bpd from Cushing to the refining hub near Houston.

The line could be complete by late 2013.

PLAINS ALL AMERICAN PIPELINE LP

Proposed:

Mid-Continent Expansion Project – The $25 million project will add up to 38,000 bpd of capacity for oil from the Cleveland Sand, Granite Wash and Colony Wash regions on the company’s Kansas and Oklahoma pipeline systems.

The project includes connecting Plains’ Cushing terminal and parts of its Kansas and Colorado systems with the Colorado-Cushing White Cliffs pipeline and other adjustments to its Mid-Continent system. It is scheduled to be complete by the third quarter of 2011.

Bakken North Project – The $200 million project would build a new 12-inch pipeline 162 km (100 miles) from Trenton, North Dakota, to the southern terminus of the Wascana pipeline on the Saskatchewan-Montana border. The Wascana line would be reversed to carry up to 50,000 bpd to near Regina, Saskatchewan, and could be expanded to carry as much as 75,000 bpd.

The project is slated for completion in late 2012.

Basin Pipeline Expansion – The project would expand Plains’ Basin line to handle 450,000 bpd from 400,000. The system moves crude from West Texas and southern New Mexico to Cushing.

Work is expected to be completed by the first quarter or 2012.

MAGELLAN MIDSTREAM PARTNERS

Proposed:

Magellan plans to reverse the flow of its Texan Longhorn pipeline, which currently carries refined products from Houston to El Paso.

The proposal would move 225,000 bpd of crude to Houston, and is expected to cost $275 million.