The Enbridge crude oil network is North America’s largest. Its original objective was to deliver western Canadian crude to refineries in the US Midwest. Many of those refineries like the 413 Mb/d BP Whiting complex south of Chicago have spent billions upgrading to process heavy Canadian crude. But the shale boom is adding significant volumes of light crude to the Enbridge system, particularly in North Dakota. So now the company is expanding capacity to get that light crude to market in eastern Canada and the US Midwest. Today we continue our coverage of Enbridge’s expansion plans.
In Episode One of this series, we reviewed the 9 refineries in eastern Canada with combined capacity of 1.3 MMb/d. These refineries mostly process light crude that until recently has come from offshore Atlantic seaboard production and imports, but they are processing growing volumes of US shale oil today. Extensive upgrades, reversals and expansions to the Enbridge network have begun to change the dynamics of crude supply to these refineries. In Episode Two we began a description of Enbridge expansion plans with the Eastern Access project. In Episode Three we finished up the Eastern Access project plans and started on Enbridge’s Light Oil Markets Access (LOMA) projects with the Sandpiper pipeline that will deliver increased supplies of light crude from North Dakota to refineries in the US and Canadian Midwest.
Figure #1
Source: Enbridge, RBN Energy (Click to Enlarge)
To help get your head back into Enbridge pipeline system mode, we start this episode with a summary map of the expansion projects in Figure #1 above. On the left are the Eastern Access projects and on the right the LOMA initiatives. We covered the LOMA Sandpiper project bringing additional light crude to Superior last time. We continue with the Southern Access expansion that will bring those additional supplies south from Superior to Flanagan, IL.
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About the song
“Walk on the Wild Side” was written by Lou Reed and appears as the fifth song on side one of Lou Reed's second solo studio album, Transformer. Released as a double A-side single with “Perfect Day” in November 1972, “Walk on the Wild Side” went to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. The song’s lyrics describe the misadventures of several of the “superstar” regulars at Andy Warhol’s New York City studio, The Factory. Lou Reed has said that Nelson Algren’s 1956 novel, “A Walk on the Wild Side,” was the launching point for the song. In 2013, The New York Times described the song as “an unlikely cultural anthem as a siren song bringing a generation of people to a New York so long forgotten as to seem imaginary.” Personnel on the record were: Lou Reed (lead vocals), Herbie Flowers (fretless Fender Jazz Bass), Ronnie Ross (baritone sax — Ross was David Bowie’s sax instructor during his childhood), David Bowie (acoustic guitar), Mick Ronson (string arrangements), and Dari Lalou, Karen Friedman, and Carey Synge (background vocals).
Transformer was recorded during August 1972 at Trident in London with David Bowie and Mick Ronson producing. Released in November 1972, it went to #29 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. The album is considered an influential LP in the 1970s glam rock genre. The striking front cover picture is from a photograph of Reed by Mick Rock. Three singles were released from the LP.
Lou Reed was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and poet. He started playing music in doo-wop groups while in high school. After graduating from Syracuse University, he went to work for Pickwick Records in New York City, where he met fellow musician John Cale. Together with Sterling Morrison and Angus MacLise, they would form the original Velvet Underground band in 1965. They soon added Moe Tucker as their drummer and German singer/model Nico as their singer. In 1966 they started being managed by Andy Warhol and became the house band at The Factory. The Velvet Underground released their debut album in 1967. Ten different people passed through the group before its final breakup in 1996. Reed left the band in 1970 to pursue a solo career. As a solo artist, he released 21 studio albums, 15 live albums, 16 compilation albums, and 46 singles. Reed was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996 and posthumously as a solo artist in 2015. Reed died in New York City in October 2013 at the age of 71.
