Bayou Bridge Oil Pipeline

From Global Energy Monitor
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Bayou Bridge Oil Pipeline is an operating oil pipeline in the United States.[1]

Location

Phase 1

The pipeline runs from Nederland, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. A proposed expansion would extend to St. James, Louisiana, USA.[2]

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Phase 2

The pipeline expansion, also called Phase 2, runs from Lake Charles to St. James, Louisiana, USA.[3][4]

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Project details

Phase 1

  • Operator:
  • Owner: Energy Transfer Partners (60%), Phillips 66 Partners (40%)[5]
  • Parent company:
  • Capacity: 480,000 barrels per day[3]
  • Length: 49 miles[3]
  • Diameter: 30 inches[3]
  • Status: Operating[3]
  • Start Year: 2016[3]

Phase 2

  • Operator:
  • Owner: Energy Transfer Partners (60%), Phillips 66 Partners (40%)[5]
  • Parent company:
  • Capacity: 480,000 barrels per day[3]
  • Length: 163 miles[3]
  • Diameter: 24 inches[3]
  • Status: Operating[3]
  • Start Year: 2019[3]


The phases were previously owned by a joint venture among Energy Transfer Partners (40%), Energy Transfer Partners (30%), and Sunoco Logistics (30%).[5]

Background

The project is reported to have cost US$750 million.[5]

Phase 1

Bayou Bridge is a 30-inch, 49-mile operating pipeline that delivers crude oil from terminal hub facilities in Nederland, Texas, to terminal facilities and refineries in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It began operations in 2016.[6] The pipeline is a joint project by subsidiaries of Phillips 66 Partners, Energy Transfer Partners LP and Sunoco Logistic Partners LP. It crosses eleven Louisiana parishes, over 700 acres of wetlands, and watersheds that supply drinking water to up to 300,000 people.[1]

Phase 2

The expansion plan was first announced in 2015.[7] It connects the pipeline's mainline to the crude oil hub in St James, Louisiana.[1]

According to June 2020 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Phase 1 (30-inch diameter), running from Nederland, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, was completed April 2016. Phase 2 (24-inch diameter), running from Lake Charles to Saint James, Louisiana, was completed in 2019.[3]

Lawsuit

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a permit for the pipeline on April 3, 2017, and denied requests for reconsideration on May 1 and May 16, 2017. As of June 2017, other permits were pending from the state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On May 11, 2017, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, asked the corps' New Orleans District to commission a full environmental impact statement investigation.[6]

On May 31, 2017, attorneys with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, on behalf of the residents and environmental groups, filed a lawsuit challenging the DNR permit in the 23rd Judicial District Court. It says DNR officials did not adequately address the potential effects of accidents or spills from the pipeline on the largely African-American residents of St. James, many of whom live on streets with a history of being blocked during emergencies at existing nearby oil, gas and chemical facilities.[6]

The suit also claims that state officials did not take into account the potential effects of spills on wetlands in areas where the pipeline crosses part of the Louisiana coastal zone, as required by Louisiana law. Additionally, the suit says the DNR discounted the potential effects of a spill in Bayou Lafourche, a drinking water source for many Lafourche Parish residents, by not requiring deep directional drilling techniques to build the pipeline across the waterway. The suit also alleges the DNR did not consider and assess alternate pipeline routes and alternatives, as required by law.[6]

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bayou Bridge Oil Pipeline, A Barrel Full, accessed September 2017
  2. Leticia Gonzales, Louisiana Property Owners Awarded Larger Payout in Court Fight Against Bayou Bridge Natural Gas Intel, July 20, 2020
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Petroleum & Other Liquids, Movements, Energy Information Administration, June 4, 2020
  4. The Growing Web of Oil and Gas Pipelines FracTracker, February 28, 2019
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Bayou Bridge Crude Oil Pipeline Project, Louisiana". Hydrocarbons Technology. Retrieved 2022-02-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Bayou Bridge Pipeline permit challenged in new lawsuit," NOLA, June 23, 2017
  7. Expansion Planned for Bayou Bridge Pipeline North American Pipelines, October 2, 2015

Related GEM.wiki articles

External resources

External articles