BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today said Alliance Pipeline is making progress on a new natural gas pipeline to connect the Tioga gas plant and surrounding wells to the Alliance mainline near Sherwood, North Dakota. The new system, the Tioga Lateral, will help to reduce flaring in the state and has an initial design capacity of approximately 120,000 Mcf/day. The liquids-rich natural gas will be shipped onward to the Aux Sable Liquids Products gas processing plant in Illinois and an Alliance gas marketing hub.

“This new pipeline project is important infrastructure that will help North Dakota to produce more energy, with better environmental stewardship,” said Hoeven. “Our producers will be able to reduce flaring and move more natural gas to market. This investment in energy infrastructure is a win-win for the economy, for job growth and the environment.”

Hoeven met with Stephen Wuori, Enbridge, Inc. President of Liquids Pipelines, to review the project. The approximately 79-mile pipeline is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory and other required approvals. Alliance Pipeline is jointly owned by Enbridge Inc. and Veresen Inc. Enbridge, Veresen and Williams Partners are owners of Aux Sable.

Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy Committee, thanked Enbridge and other partners of the Alliance Pipeline and Aux Sable for establishing innovative gas processing and distribution strategies in North Dakota that create value-added markets for North Dakota natural gas and natural gas liquids, while reducing the effects of flaring on the environment.

In 2007 and 2009, then-Governor Hoeven signed into law legislation that incentivized investment to capture natural gas. According to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, from 2006 to 2011, natural gas processing companies will have more than tripled their ability to turn North Dakota’s valuable natural gas resources into a safe and clean energy source for America.