The partners said that the 24inch Bayou Bridge Pipeline is ready to be placed into service to deliver crude oil sourced from Lake Charles to terminalling facilities outside St. James, starting from 1 April 2019.
The pipeline has the capacity of transporting up to 480,000 barrels per day of crude oil from various sources to the St. James crude oil hub, which hosts some of the major refineries that have been operating in the Gulf Coast region.
Energy Transfer is the owner of the pipeline with a stake of 60% while Phillips 66 Partners holds the remaining stake of 40%.
The first phase of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, which was announced in July 2015, was brought into service in April 2016. It consists of a 78.8km long 30inch pipeline laid from Nederland in Texas to Lake Charles in Louisiana to deliver multiple grades of crude oil.
According to Energy Transfer, the second phase of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, which essentially is the extension of the first phase, offers Louisiana refiners more efficient and sustainable access to North American crude oil along with market diversification for North American producers.
The pipeline will also further reduce the US’ reliance on less stable foreign sources for crude oil, said the company.
The construction of Bayou Bridge Pipeline is said to have involved nearly 2,500 construction jobs while supporting local businesses with the pipe used in the project sourced from Louisiana-based Stupp.
Nearly 88% of the crude oil pipeline, including the entire crossing of the Atchafalaya Basin, runs parallel to existing infrastructure like other pipelines, power lines and roads.
The Bayou Bridge pipeline does not feature any above ground pipes and all of its pipes on agricultural lands, wetlands and the Atchafalaya Basin were buried in depths of more than 48 inches.
Overall, the Bayou Bridge Pipeline connects to and links to other pipelines that are part of the 3.2 million kms of infrastructure in the US and the major Midwest and Gulf Coast crude oil hubs.
