URC and Enbridge enter into pipeline agreement

United Refining Company has announced that it has entered into an agreement concerning Line 10, a pipeline owned by Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership, which transportscrude oil from Canada to URC’s Kiantone Pipeline in West Seneca, New York and serves itsrefinery in Warren, Pennsylvania.

John A. Catsimatidis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of URC, stated: “We are very pleased that our companies have agreed to a plan that would allow Enbridge to continue to provide operational reliability and efficiency to Line 10. The agreement will allow us to consider thefeasibility of expansion of the pipeline’s capacity over the coming years subject to regulatoryapprovals. The agreement underscores our commitment to safe, reliable, low cost transportationof our crude oil feed stocks for decades to come. After completion of the segment replacementprogram, it is our expectation that Line 10 will be restored to its original operating capacity.”

The agreement provides for URC to fund certain integrity costs necessary to maintain Enbridge's Line 10 pipeline and also a commitment to pay for half of the cost of the replacement of 20 miles of pipeline in Canada. URC's share of the replacement cost of this section of the pipeline will be approximately US$ 28 million.

It also provides for the replacement and upgrade of additional portions of Line 10, subjectto regulatory approvals, and provided that a “put and call” agreement concerning ownership ofthe pipeline is entered into by the end of the year.

If the parties enter into the “put and call” agreement, URC and Enbridge would share thecost of replacing the majority of Line 10 in Canada and part of it in New York State. Each partywould invest approximately US$ 135 million over the next five or six years for pipe replacement.

URC will repay Enbridge for its investment over a ten year period for each section of Line 10 that is replaced. URC would have the right to purchase the entire Line 10 fromEnbridge at any time during the next approximately 11 years and Enbridge will also have theright to require URC to purchase Line 10 over a two year period starting at the later ofapproximately nine years or when all of the upgrades are completed.

The Agreement states that URC will pay Enbridge the published toll for thetransportation of hydrocarbons and backstop the capital and integrity costs while Line 10 isowned by Enbridge. Promptly after execution of the Agreement, URC will pay Enbridge US$ 36million for integrity costs for 2014. Construction of the first segment of the pipeline to bereplaced is planned to begin in 2015.

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/07082014/urc-and-enbridge-enter-into-pipeline-agreement/