Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners LP plan to expand the capacity of the Seaway pipeline -- which hooks up the U.S. oil trading hub at Cushing, Okla., with the Texas Gulf Coast -- by 450,000 barrels a day.

At the same time, Enbridge will expand its Flanagan South project, which connects Illinois with Cushing.

"Expansion of the Seaway pipeline, along with Enbridge's Flanagan South project, will provide crude oil producers in the Bakken region and other emerging crude oil sources capacity to move secure, reliable supply to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, offsetting supplies of imported crude," Pat Daniel, CEO of Enbridge, said in a statement.

The Seaway pipeline was originally constructed to send oil from the Gulf Coast to Oklahoma. But the companies have started draining the pipeline to reverse the route. The capacity expansion is an attempt to relieve the large crude oil stores in Cushing.

The move comes after the proposed rival line, Keystone XL, sponsored by TransCanada Corp., was blocked by President Obama earlier this year (Kennedy/Humber, Bloomberg, March 27). -- WW