New pipelines will relieve Cushing oil glut — eventually

Seaway operator Enterprise Products Partners LP is expanding a connecting line that will help transport oil from the Seaway terminal to refineries in the area.

Bill Ordemann, Enterprise Products Partners executive vice president, last month said the line is expected to be operational in the third or fourth quarter. When that is complete, he said, “I think we'll have the ability to alleviate most of the bottlenecks we're seeing right now.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last month predicted Seaway to quickly reduce the spread between WTI and Brent to as little as $6.

With the export delays, some analysts have said the spread could reach as high as $30 by the end of the year. Hume, however, said he expects the difference to remain close to $20 a barrel.

Seven more new or expanded pipelines expected to be operational by the end of next year will either carry oil away from Cushing or bypass the Oklahoma terminal altogether.

Easing imbalance

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that the pipeline upgrades should help bring the local crude oil sales price more in line with international levels.

“Over the next two years, planned additions to pipeline takeaway capacity should be sufficient to ameliorate the current imbalance at the Cushing hub,” the agency said.