CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) says it will build, own and operate a deepwater crude oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, but did not provide a price tag for the project.
The Calgary-based company said the pipeline would connect the proposed Heidelberg development, operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., to an existing pipeline that it did not name.
The new pipeline is expected to be operational by 2016, but is subject to finalization of an agreement with Anadarko and its project co-owners.
The Heidelberg pipeline will originate in Green Canyon Block 860, southwest of New Orleans and will be in 5,300 feet of water.
“We are pleased to be working with Anadarko and the Heidelberg producers,” said Leon Zupan, Enbridge president of gas pipelines.
“The Heidelberg lateral pipeline is an attractive investment opportunity for Enbridge. It also furthers our objective of diversifying our offshore business to include facilities that support the substantial crude oil discoveries in the deepwater of the US Gulf Coast.”
Enbridge’s offshore pipelines transport approximately 40 per cent of the natural gas produced in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The company’s offshore assets include interests in 13 natural gas pipelines and one crude oil pipeline in five major pipeline corridors off the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi.