The Seaway Pipeline was originally built by a consortium of oil industry firms formed in 1974 named Seaway Pipeline, Inc. for transferring cheap foreign oil from Texas ports to refineries in the Midwest. After two years of construction, the system became operational on 23 November 1976, and pumped crude oil north until 1982. In 1984, the other consortium members were bought out by Phillips. Seeking to capitalize on the pipeline's location to gather raw natural gas in Oklahoma and Texas for transport to the company's refinery complex at Sweeny, Texas, and other refineries near Houston, Phillips converted the system to ship natural gas south instead of shipping crude oil north. Phillips called that arrangement the "Seagas Pipeline". In 1995, Atlantic Richfield bought a 50% interest from Conoco through a subsidiary, and the system was converted from shipping natural gas south to shipping oil north to Cushing in 1996. In 2000, Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company, an indirect subsidiary of Duke Energy through TEPPCO Partners, bought the stock of ARCO Pipeline, acquiring their 50% interest in the system, and became the primary operator. In 2005, Texas Eastern Products Pipeline, was acquired by Enterprise Products Partners L.P. in 2005, and Enterprise Products became the system operator with a 50% stake. In late 2011, Canadian pipeline company Enbridge bought Conoco's remaining 50% interest in the company for $1.15 billion. The Seaway Crude Pipeline Company LLC became the pipeline's operator. In late May 2012, the Seaway's flow was reversed, and crude began arriving at Freeport on 6 June 2012. On January 11, 2013, the Seaway's capacity was increased to. On January 30, 2017, a Texas Department of Transportation crew accidentally dug into the Seaway Pipeline near Blue Ridge, Texas, causing a large spill. On January 30, 2017, a road crew punctured the Seaway pipeline near Dallas. Two days later, it was unclear how much oil had spilled over the nearby Highway 121. After the incident, supply concerns reportedly helped push oil prices 2% higher.
Details
As of June 2012, the entire system is long, of which, are in the long-haul portion of the pipeline. The system was then capable of carrying approximately of oil.
Expansion plans
Plans have been announced to increase Seaway's capacity to in 2013 and, in 2014, adding additional capacity via a "twin" long-haul pipeline. As well as for an lateral to the ECHO crude storage facility in southwest Houston and the Port Arthur/Beaumont refining complex.
Competition
Several competing pipelines between Cushing and the Houston region have been proposed over the years, no other directly competing pipeline has yet been built. Although there is one larger pipeline which also connects the midwest with the Gulf Coast, the Capline, but which bypasses Cushing. The Capline has been pumping offshore oil north from Louisiana to Patoka, Illinois since the 1960s. However, planning for Phase 3 of the proposed Keystone XL show that it would run from Cushing to Nederland, Texas near Port Arthur, where it could tie into an existing pipeline to the Houston area.
