Last month President Obama put an end to speculation and debate about the Keystone XL Pipeline and denied construction of the expansion that would have added 327 miles to the existing pipeline. The announcement came after more than 6 years of discussion, plan reviews, and political and environmental groups weighing in on the project.
However, while the Keystone XL Pipeline may have been the biggest oil pipeline in the news, it wasn’t the only one. In fact, the United States currently has more than 150,000 miles of pipeline running across the country. The Keystone XL Pipeline was gathering the most headlines, but now that it’s been stopped, other projects are taking the limelight. Here are a few other oil pipeline projects in the works:
- Energy East is another pipeline project by TransCanada Corporation, the same company behind the Keystone Pipeline project. Energy East would stretch more than 2,800 miles across Canada, from Alberta to New Brunswick, carrying up to 1.1 million barrels per day. With the Keystone expansion no longer an option, Energy East is now the most likely oil infrastructure project to be completed in Canada. Recent elections have helped, as well as the fact the pipeline won’t cross U.S. soil so it only needs domestic approval. It’s far from a given, but the next few months could prove telling for Energy East.
Enbridge pipeline excavation in Grand Marsh, Wisconsin courtesy of U.S. EPA.
- Enbridge Inc. runs Line 61, the largest oil pipeline in Wisconsin, and the company is considering expanding that line by constructing a twin parallel line. The new expansion would be able to transport 800,000 barrels a day. The Keystone XL Pipeline was projected to handle 830,000 barrels a day when it was completed. Already the company expects to be able to move 2.2 million barrels a day by the end of 2016. However, Enbridge expects environmental groups will put up a fight over this project, much like they did with the Keystone expansion project. But presidential approval will not be needed because the project does not stretch over an international border.
- The Palmetto Pipeline expansion would add 360 miles to the current pipeline that extends from Louisiana to Washington D.C. The expansion would start in Belton, South Carolina and move south through Savannah, Georgia before ending in Jacksonville, Florida. The pipeline can move 167,000 barrels of oil a day. Kinder Morgan, the company working to build the expansion, is currently in a legal battle in Georgia that has delayed construction.
- Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, LLC is seeking approval to build two separate parallel pipelines from Albany, New York to Linden, New Jersey that would be able to transport 200,000 barrels a day. Oil transported in the area currently is moved along the Hudson River. Trains that have been used in the area in the past are less popular thanks to derailments and explosions. However, towns along the route are already voicing their opposition.
These are just some of the oil pipeline projects on the drawing board. Which do you think will be completed? Let us know in the comments.
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