A regulatory hearing was recently held to determine whether Dakota Access LLC can nearly double the flow of its oil pipeline through North Dakota. The projected project has reignited an argument with the nearby Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The North Dakota Public Service Commission will decide at a later date whether owner Dakota Access LLC, controlled by Texas-based Energy Transfer LP, can build a pump station as part of an upgrade to boost pipeline capacity from 570,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.1 million bpd. The industry sees the extra capacity as critical to handling expanding crude output from the Bakken shale play. DAPL is a 1,172-mile pipeline carrying light oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to an Illinois oil terminal. Construction would take eight to 10 months, starting in spring 2020.
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