Enbridge Energy Partners Shelves Sandpiper Pipeline Project

Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc.'s Enbridge Energy Partners LP is calling off for now plans for a 616-mile pipeline that was intended to carry crude oil from North Dakota to Wisconsin, citing the recent drop in oil prices.

Houston-based Enbridge Energy Partners said it had determined it doesn't need the additional pipeline capacity and, therefore, was putting the $2.6 billion Sandpiper project on hold until oil production in North Dakota "recovers sufficiently to support development of new pipeline capacity," which, it said, won't happen within its current five-year plan based on current projections.

Separately, Enbridge Energy Partners said it had reached a tentative agreement under which its general partner, Enbridge Energy Co., would pay for three-quarters of its $1.5 billion investment in the Bakken Pipeline System with Enbridge Energy Partners financing the remaining $375 million through a combination of debt and a new class of limited-partner units.

The system includes the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline.

MarEn, a joint venture with Marathon Petroleum Corp., would own a 49% interest in an affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, which in turn owns 75% of the Bakken Pipeline, according to regulatory filings.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 01, 2016 20:35 ET (00:35 GMT)

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