By
Joseph
Markman
Hart Energy

Energy Transfer Partners, as the kids would say, got “2020ed.” The company’s Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) was ordered to shut down in early July by a federal judge who ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not conduct an environmental impact statement as required before issuing a permit.

So, three years after DAPL went into operation to transport crude oil from the Bakken Shale to Patoka, Ill., a judge issued his decision based on a rule broken by a third party (the Corps). Three years. Now, friends, you know what it means to be 2020ed.

While that kerfuffle works itself out in court, it’s worth noting that an actual project, the DAPL expansion, could be in doubt. The company planned to double capacity from 570,000 bbl/d to 1.1 MMbbl/d, but the oil price shock and loss of demand cut deeply into Bakken Shale producers’ enthusiasm for the project.

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