Plains working to open pipeline expansion out of Permian by October

The massive BridgeTex Pipeline was completed in 2014 and terminates in east Houston. The pipeline - owned by Magellan Midstream and Plains All American Pipeline - carries Permian Basin crude oil from Colorado City to Houston. The pipeline was expanded to 400,000 barrels a day of capacity this year and the owners are currently weighing an additional expansion to 440,000 barrels daily. less The massive BridgeTex Pipeline was completed in 2014 and terminates in east Houston. The pipeline - owned by Magellan Midstream and Plains All American Pipeline - carries Permian Basin crude oil from Colorado ... more Photo: Magellan Midstream Partners Photo: Magellan Midstream Partners Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Plains working to open pipeline expansion out of Permian by October 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Plains All American is planning to open a 90,000 barrel a day crude oil pipeline expansion by the end of October.

In an Aug. 31 filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the Houston-based pipeline and storage company said it wanted to open the expansion of its Sunrise Pipeline, which runs 573 miles from Loving County in the Permian Basin to Cushing, Oklahoma, a major crude oil hub.

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The pipeline expansion will add 90,000 barrels to the Sunrise Pipeline, according to a May filing by Plains All American. The pipeline is being brought online nearly 6 months ahead of schedule. Plains All American originally expected it to be online by the first quarter of 2019.

Crude oil pipelines out of West Texas' Permian Basin have been full as production has increased past capacity. The pipeline constraints has left any oil stranded in Midland without a pipeline to go into selling at a discount of more than $15 a barrel compared to the Gulf Coast. Some shippers are turning to oil trains or tanker trucks to ship their oil out of the Permian.

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At least 2.1 million barrels of crude oil pipeline capacity is currently being constructed to meet current and future demand, with the majority flowing from the Permian to the Corpus Christi region along the Gulf Coast.