The Sandpiper Project is the next phase of crude oil pipeline expansion that will provide a transportation corridor from Beaver Lodge, N.D. to Superior, Wis. It will expand and extend the Bakken takeaway capacity of the North Dakota System by 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a total of 580,000 bpd. The Sandpiper pipeline is currently estimated to cost approximately $2.6 billion.

In exchange for MPC’s commitment to participate in the open season for Sandpiper and its investment in this project, MPC will earn an approximate 27% interest in Enbridge Energy Partners’ North Dakota System when Sandpiper is placed into service. MPC will also have the option to increase its ownership interest to 30% through additional investments in future system improvements.

In 2012, MPC agreed to be the anchor shipper on the Enbridge Southern Access Extension pipeline from Flanagan, Ill. to Patoka, Ill. As a result of that commitment, MPC has the option to acquire a 25% ownership interest in Southern Access Extension. Due to MPC’s commitment to the Sandpiper Project, MPC’s option for ownership interest in Southern Access Extension will increase an additional 10% to a total of 35%.

These projects further MPC’s ability to access cost-effectively the shale production from this part of the country. In addition, the company said that its equity ownership interest in both of these major pipelines will make a significant contribution toward its plan to grow its midstream logistics business.

MPC is making strategic investments in organic projects in other shale plays in the US. MPC currently has underway in the Utica Shale region in eastern Ohio a number of midstream projects that will facilitate transportation and processing crude oil and condensate from this emerging shale play.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation is the US’ fourth-largest refiner, with a crude oil refining capacity of approximately 1.7 million barrels per calendar day in its seven-refinery system. Marathon brand gasoline is sold through approximately 5,100 independently owned retail outlets across 18 states. In addition, Speedway LLC, an MPC subsidiary, owns and operates the nation’s fourth-largest convenience store chain, with approximately 1,470 convenience stores in nine states. MPC also owns, leases or has ownership interests in approximately 8,300 miles of pipeline.