Operations technicians Greg Bowman, left, and Marty
Gaunder, right, head out past Cushing's tanks to perform
a maintenance check on the pipelines.
Liquids Business
Mid-Continent System
Our Mid-Continent System consists of 480 miles of pipeline
and includes the Ozark and West Tulsa Pipelines.
The Ozark Pipeline transports crude oil from Cushing
to Wood River, Ill., serving refineries in the U.S.
Mid-Continent region. In addition, there are 96 storage
tanks, ranging in size from 55,000 to 575,000 barrels,
at our Cushing and El Dorado, Kan., terminals with a
total capacity of 15.9 million barrels. In 2009, the Mid-
Continent System recorded average deliveries of 238,000
Bpd. In early 2009, Enbridge Inc. completed a 68,300
Bpd expansion of its Spearhead Pipeline to a capacity
of approximately 193,300 Bpd. The Spearhead Pipeline
interconnects with our Lakehead System.
North Dakota System
The Partnership's North Dakota System continues to
provide a vital transportation route for producers in eastern
Montana, North Dakota and southern Saskatchewan
seeking to transport growing, market-constrained supplies
of crude oil sourced from the Bakken Play to refineries
in the U.S. Midwest and beyond through deliveries into
our Lakehead System and into a third-party pipeline at
Clearbrook, Minn. The North Dakota System comprises
approximately 240 miles of crude oil gathering and a
730-mile transmission pipeline. The Phase VI expansion
of the North Dakota System was completed at the end of
2009 and placed into service on Jan. 1, 2010. This expansion—
which included upgrades to pumping stations,
additional tankage and extensive use of drag reducing
agents—increased the North Dakota System's capacity
from 110,000 Bpd to 161,000 Bpd.
looking forward
In 2010, we will be proposing increased storage capacity
at our Cushing terminal, a critical hub in our infrastructure.
We also will be focused on continued expansion
of our North Dakota System as producers look to get
oil sourced from the Bakken play to Midwestern refining
markets. With the 2009 completion of our Southern
Access Expansion and with the Alberta Clipper project
slated to come online in April 2010, sufficient capacity
exists on our mainline system to ensure our ability to
deliver secure, reliable North American-sourced crude oil
to U.S. and Canadian markets.