Minnesota Pipeline System

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy.

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Minnesota Pipeline System (MPL) is an oil pipeline in Minnesota, the United States.^[1]

Location

The pipeline runs from Clearbrook, Minnesota, to Twin Cities refineries in Saint Paul Park and Rosemount, Minnesota.

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Project Details

Operator: Koch Industries
Owner: Minnesota Pipe Line Company
Current capacity: 465,000 barrels per day
Length: 490 kilometers (305 miles)
Status: Operating
Start Year: 1950-70s (lines 1-3), 2008 (line 4)

Background

The Minnesota Pipe Line (MPL) is a crude oil pipeline that runs from Clearbrook, Minnesota southward to the Twin Cities. The State of Minnesota approved the building permit in 2007^[2] and construction began that year and ended in 2008. It is owned by Minnesota Pipe Line Company, LLC (MPL) and is operated by Koch Industries.^[3]

The MPL system has four lines and can transport about 465,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The first pipeline in the MPL system was established in the 1950s, and the last pipeline was constructed in 2008. The crude oil comes from North American sources including Canada and North Dakota and is delivered to refineries in St. Paul Park and Rosemount, Minnesota. MPL is the primary pipeline system that supplies crude oil to the two Twin Cities refineries.^[4]

Route and capacity

All four of the Minnesota Pipe Line Co. lines begin at the Clearbrook terminal, and is largely supplied by Enbridge Energy's pipeline system that carries crude from North dakota and Alberta, Canada. The Minnesota Pipeline System splits into two parts at a junction in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. One branch serves the Pine Bend Refinery owned by Flint Hills Resources (another Koch subsidiary) in Rosemount. The other portion of the line runs to Northern Tier Energy's St. Paul Park Refinery in St. Paul Park, Minnesota. There is a connection at the Pine Bend Refinery to the Wood River Pipeline, which carries crude oil from the St. Louis, Missouri area to Minnesota.^[5]

In 2008 Minnesota Pipe Line completed a parallel 24-inch (610 mm) line to expand the pipeline capacity from Clearbrook to the Twin Cities by 165,000 barrels per day (26,200 m3/d) with ultimate potential expansion to 350,000 barrels per day (56,000 m3/d).^[5]

In 2014 Minnesota Pipe Line said it will more than double the capacity of Line 4 to 350,000 barrels per day by adding six pump stations along the 295-mile route.^[6]