A subsidiary of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group says it is beginning the next phase in a big natural gas pipeline project.
The Dakota Pipeline would be a 375-mile line that would run from McKenzie County to eastern North Dakota, just south of Emerson, Manitoba. It will carry 400 million cubic feet of processed natural gas each day. It will cost $650 million.
“This pipeline in four times the size that would serve the city of Fargo on an average day," said MDU president and CEO Davdi Goodin. "If we think of the current gas production in the Bakken, it's about 40 percent of the total output. So clearly, it can help take away additional gas production that will be taking place."
Goodin says MDU is now conducting an “open season” for the pipeline. That means MDU is looking for commitments from gas producers to ship the processed gas via the pipeline. He says the permitting process will take up to two years, and the hope is to have the pipeline up and running by 2017.