01.20.12

Hoeven: Four Bears Pipeline Means Fewer Trucks, More Oil Moving to Market

WATFORD CITY, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today said that the Four Bears Pipeline is a key addition to the state’s oil transportation infrastructure. He joined state and local officials and industry leaders at an open house celebrating the 77-mile Four Bears Pipeline, which is designed to move up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day through Dunn and McKenzie counties to existing pipeline infrastructure near Belfield.

“This Four Bears Pipeline is an efficient means of moving Bakken sweet crude from North Dakota to market, and transporting more Bakken oil is good for western North Dakota, our state and nation. We’ve worked hard to make it possible for important infrastructure like this to be constructed,” Hoeven said.

“The Four Bears Pipeline means fewer semi-tankers hauling on the road, which reduces traffic and wear and tear on infrastructure. It means we can better manage regional growth and build a high quality of life for our people. It also means more energy independence from Middle Eastern markets, which increases our nation’s security. Our energy-rich state is fueling our nation, and fueling our future, and pipelines like Four Bears are a big part of doing that,” he added.

The Four Bears Pipeline is expected to remove the need for more than 300 truck trips down Highway 85 and Highway 22, which translates into 30,000 miles per day off these congested corridors. It now delivers crude oil to the Butte pipeline at Baker, Mont., and the Bakken Oil Express rail terminal near Dickinson. In the future, Four Bears will deliver oil to the Belle Fourche pipeline and the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which, once constructed, will have the capacity to deliver 830,000 barrels of oil per day, including 100,000 barrels per day from the Bakken region.

A member of the Senate Energy Committee, Hoeven is working with his colleagues in Congress to secure Keystone XL’s permit through new legislation after the Administration rejected it earlier this week.

The Four Bears Pipeline is operated by Bridger Pipeline, LLC. Bridger and Belle Fourche pipelines are a part of the True companies of Casper, Wyo., operating more than 3,400 miles of pipeline systems in western North Dakota, eastern Montana and Wyoming.