A Look at Energy Transfer Partners, the Owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) (#NoDAPL Volume 1
At Standing Rock in North Dakota, thousands have gathered over the last several months to stand against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Stretching over 1,000 miles, it crosses 4 states, invades Sioux territory, and threatens numerous bodies of water, forests, plains, and farmland. Alone, DAPL is a threat to entire ecosystems and an act of colonial aggression against the Sioux, but it is only one small part of something much larger.
Beyond DAPL: The Bakken Pipeline Project
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is being constructed by Dakota Access, LLC. If completed, it will ship crude oil from the Bakken shale oilfields in North Dakota to a terminus near Patoka, Illinois.
(Image retrieved from http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com/docs-dapl/DAPL_States_Counties.pdf)
At Patoka, it will connect to the Energy Transfer Crude Oil (ETCO) Pipeline, a converted Trunkline natural gas line which travels south to the Sunoco Logistics Terminal in Nederland, Texas. Together DAPL and ETCO are projected to create the nearly 2,000 mile long Bakken Pipeline Project.
http://www.energytransfer.com/documents/ETCOP_Overall_System_Map.pdf
In total the Bakken Pipeline Project is proposed to cross through ten states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. It will also cross Sioux Territory without the permission of the tribe as well as the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio River systems and tributaries.
Who Owns the Bakken Pipeline Project?
On June 25, 2014, Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. announced that it would be building the Dakota Access Pipeline. In late October, Phillips66 entered into a joint venture with ETP that granted the company 25% of DAPL and ETCO while ETP would retain 75% ownership of both. ETP also maintained managerial rights to oversee construction of the Project.
A May 26, 2015 Press Release from Energy Transfer stated that a joint venture between ETP and Sunoco Logistics Partners, L.P. (SXL) called “Bakken Holding Company, LLC." ETP retained 45% of and SXL gained a 30% holding.
According to the release:
“ETP will continue to manage the planning, construction and overall execution of the DAPL and ETCOP projects and upon completion of the projects, SXL will operate the pipelines”
On August 2, 2016, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) and Enbridge Inc. announced that EEP and Marathon Petroleum Corporation were going to purchase 49% of Bakken Holdings for $1.5 billion. EEP would own 75% of these interests ($1.125 billion ) and Marathon would own 25% ($375 million).
This proposal was confirmed in Enbridge’s Third Quarter 2016 results released November 3, 2016.
The purchase, however, had not yet taken place. Executive vice-president of EEP Guy Jarvis explained in an interview with Shawn McCarthy that he could not define the reasons why the purchase was postponed.
If the agreement was completed the distribution of equity would appear as below:
What Else Does ETP Own?
Though Sunoco and ETP appear as two separate companies, ETP owns both the general partners of Sunoco, L.P. and Sunoco Logistics, L.P. (who is jointly invested in Bakken Holdings). In addition, ETP owns many other natural gas and crude oil companies.
Constructed below is a brief map of some of the companies owned by ETP.
Conclusion
In this volume, we have brought attention to the organization of ETP and highlighted where DAPL fits into the larger Bakken Pipeline Project. This, however, is just the beginning.
There are many other companies involved in this scheme of master limited partnerships (MLPs) and a much wider web of corruption, violence, and greed that must be uncovered to fight DAPL and the reality it represents. Big Oil and the non-renewable energy industry continue to push fuel that is dangerous through pipelines just waiting to burst. ETP, in fact, is owned by a much larger company and a merger with Sunoco Logistics has just been announced. In Volume 2 of this series on #NoDAPL, we will define MLPs and discuss their operations in more depth. We will explain how energy companies like ETP are legally allowed to escape corporate income tax while destroying the planet. Stay tuned for more. The Rust Belt Tribune will continue to post the stories they don’t want you to see.
(Article by Alexander Fred)