Veresen Inc. and Enbridge Inc., joint owners of Alliance Pipeline, announced approval by their respective boards of directors to allow Alliance to begin development of a natural gas pipeline lateral and associated facilities. The project will connect production from the Hess Tioga field processing plant in the Bakken region of North Dakota to the Alliance mainline near Sherwood, North Dakota. Alliance has made a precedent agreement with Hess Corporation as an anchor shipper on the Tioga Lateral pipeline, including matching capacity on the Alliance mainline. Aux Sable (owned by Veresen, Enbridge and Williams Partners, L.P.) and Hess have come to a concurrent agreement for the provision of NGL services. The pipeline is scheduled to be in service by the third quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory and other required approvals. The 77mi Tioga Lateral will transfer high-energy, liquids-rich natural gas to natural gas liquid (NGL) processing facilities owned by Aux Sable Liquids Products at the terminus of the Alliance mainline system. Alliance has secured sufficient commitment to proceed with the Tioga Lateral through its agreement with Hess, and will hold an Open Season to solicit additional shipper interest. The pipeline will have an initial design capacity of around 120 million cu/ft per day, which can be expanded based on shipper demand.
