The reversed Capline Pipeline is fully online and has enough excess capacity to roughly double its current Canadian oil sands crude volumes.
TC Energy pipeline
The Capline reversal project to send crude from Patoka, Illinois, to various terminals in St. James Parish, Louisiana, started ahead of schedule by offering interim service on Dec, 18, with initial volumes of about 100,000 b/d, said Marathon Petroleum spokesperson Jamal Kheiry in a statement.
As of Jan. 1, 2022, he added, Capline has entered full service and is available for both contracted and spot shipments.
"Currently, there is available space on the 200,000 b/d pipeline. When additional capacity is required based on market demand, existing pump stations can be reactivated," said Kheiry.
Owned by Marathon and Plains All American Pipeline and commissioned in 1968, Capline is a 632-mile, 40-inch pipeline system that was originally constructed to transport crude oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico to the Midwestern refiners. It then became the link between the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port and the Midwest, enabling large volumes of imported crude to flow north.
However, as the energy landscape began to change over the past decade, the decision was made to reverse the line through the Capline Reversal project, which now successfully transports crude from the Midwest into South Louisiana.
