Energy Transfer will continue to operate the Dakota Access oil pipeline while it challenges a court ruling this week ordering it to shut and empty the duct, the largest line out of North Dakota’s shale basin. After finding fault with one of its environmental permits, a US court on ordered the 570,000 bpd pipeline to stop operations and empty out within 30 days. A judge later denied an emergency request from Energy Transfer for the court to reconsider its ruling.
Energy Transfer has not taken any steps to begin winding down flows on the line and said it believed the judge who ordered the shutdown over-reached his authority. The company is also accepting nominations for crude volumes for the month of August, a sign it does not expect to have to cease operations.
