Western Corridor Oil Pipeline System

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Western Corridor Oil Pipeline System is an operating oil pipeline system in the USA.

Location

The trunkline runs from Montana to Wyoming, USA.

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Project details

The Western Corridor Oil Pipeline System consists of three contiguous trunklines: Glacier Pipeline, Beartooth Pipeline, and Big Horn Pipeline.

• Operator:
  • Glacier Pipeline: ConocoPhillips Pipe Line Company
  • Beartooth Pipeline: Plains All American Pipeline
  • Big Horn Pipeline: Plains All American Pipeline
• Owner: Plains All American Pipeline
• Parent company: Plains GP Holdings LP
• Capacity:
  • Glacier Pipeline: 25,000 barrels per day
  • Beartooth Pipeline: 25,000 barrels per day
  • Big Horn Pipeline: 33,9900 barrels per day
• Length: 1,012 miles
  • Glacier Pipeline: 614 miles of parallel crude pipeline, plus segments of 277 miles, 288 miles, and 49 miles
  • Beartooth Pipeline: 76 miles
  • Big Horn Pipeline: segments of 231 miles and 105 miles
• Diameter:
  • Glacier Pipeline: 8, 10, 12 inches
  • Beartooth Pipeline: 12 inches
  • Big Horn Pipeline: 12 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start year:
  • Glacier Pipeline: 1960
  • Beartooth Pipeline: 1996
  • Big Horn Pipeline: 1944, 1996

Prior to 2006, the system was owned in part by Pacific Energy Partners LP, which was bought by Plains All American Pipeline.

Expansion projects

Capacity expansion

According to June 2020 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), an open season announced in July 2019 to expand the system's capacity up to an additional 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil transport. Service was expected to start in the second quarter of 2021.

• Operator:
• Owner: Plains All American Pipeline
• Parent company: Plains GP Holdings LP
• Capacity: 70,000 barrels per day
• Length: 0 new miles (capacity expansion only)
• Diameter:
• Status: Cancelled
• Start year: 2021

As of March 2022, there had been no developments of the expansion, and the EIA lists the project as "NNI" (no new information); it is therefore considered shelved.

As of early 2024, the project was listed as cancelled according to the EIA.