Swordfish Pipeline

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Swordfish Pipeline is a proposed oil pipeline in the United States. As of June 2021, the project is considered shelved.

Location

The pipeline will run from existing terminal facilities in St. James and Raceland, Louisiana to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port LLC (LOOP) terminal facility in Clovelly.

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Project details

• Operator:
• Owner: MPLX; Crimson Midstream LLC
• Parent company: Marathon Petroleum; Crimson Midstream LLC
• Capacity: 600,000 bpd
• Length: 60 miles
• Diameter: 16 inches, 20 inches, 30 inches
• Status: Shelved
• Start year: 2021

Background

The Swordfish Pipeline would provide connectivity from existing terminal facilities in St. James and Raceland, Louisiana to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port LLC (LOOP) terminal facility in Clovelly for export. Swordfish would be a multi-diameter (16", 20" and 30") system with the ability to transport up to 600,000 bpd of crude oil. The in-service date for the Swordfish Pipeline is anticipated to be in the first half of 2020.

In November of 2018, MPLX and Crimson Midstream extended the binding open season for their Swordfish Pipeline until the end of January 2019 in response to strong shipper demand.

As of June 2019, pipeline was expected to be in service in 2Q 2020 with a capacity of up to 600,000 barrels per day. The Swordfish Pipeline is expected to be a multi-diameter (16”, 20” and 30”) batched system with the ability to transport various levels of capacity, from approximately 170,000 to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day based on market demands. It will use mostly existing pipeline infrastructure along with some new-build pipeline. As of June 2020 construction had yet to begin, meaning it would not be commissioned until 2021 at the earliest.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), as of June 2021 the project was considered to be on hold.