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US Army Corps of Engineers given deadline

to identify next steps for Dakota Access

US A federal judge has given the US Army Corps on the need for further environmental review.
of Engineers until the end of August to detail Energy Transfer, the operator of the 570,000
the options for how to proceed with the Dakota barrel per day (bpd) Dakota Access project, has
Access pipeline after it lost a permit to operate. said it could lose billions of dollars if the pipeline
This comes after a US appeals court last was idled for an extended period. However, in
week reversed a lower court’s determination the run-up to last week’s court ruling, producers
that Dakota Access be temporarily shut down. that use the pipeline had downplayed their need
However, at the same time, the appeals court to investors for it. Companies including Conti-
declined to overturn the ruling that the Army nental Resources – the largest producer in North
Corps needed to conduct another environmen- Dakota’s Bakken play – said they had plenty of
tal impact assessment. It is now up to the Corps alternatives in the event that the pipeline is shut
to decide whether the pipeline should be shut down. And Hess’ CEO, John Hess, said a poten- Last week’s court
down while the assessment is carried out. tial shut-down of Dakota Access would not have
A lawyer representing the Corps said the a major impact on his company’s ability to move ruling has bought
organisation was exploring four options for its output, costing it “a few dollars per barrel”.
how to proceed, including some that would not At the same time, though, legal filings have Energy Transfer
require Dakota Access to be shut. The Corps made the risk of a shut-down seem more seri-
had proposed taking 60 days to determine how ous for such producers. In an April court filing, some time, but
to proceed, but US District Judge James Boas- Hess said it did “not have other practical options the risk of a shut-
berg has asked for the decision to be made by to transport the crude oil that is currently being
August 31. shipped on [Dakota Access]”. But last week Reu- down remains.
Last week, a professor at Southern Method- ters cited a source familiar with the company’s
ist University’s Dedman School of Law, James operations as saying Hess had since found alter-
Coleman, was cited by Bloomberg as saying the natives for shipping its oil.
Corps was likely to allow the pipeline to continue The news service added, citing experts in
operating. The question, however, is whether the the matter, that such differing statements came
Corps’ decision holds up to scrutiny from the down to the need to reassure investors.
court. Last week’s court ruling has bought Energy
“The bad news for the pipeline is that, if the Transfer some time, but the risk of a shut-down
district court orders a shut-down after consid- remains. If the judges ultimately decide that the
ering the injunction standard, the same panel of pipeline must be shut, the move would set a prec-
three judges will hear a new request for a stay,” edent for renewed legal action against pipelines
Coleman said. He added that so far, the judges that are already in operation. The decision will
appeared inclined to agree with the district court thus be closely watched by the industry.™

Week 32 13•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13