FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) — Marathon Petroleum Corp. has agreed topay for more than a third of the
construction cost of the proposedSandpiper pipeline, the company and Enbridge Energy Partners LP
saidMonday.Marathon will be an anchor shipper and fund 37.5 percentof the cost of the estimated $2.6 billion
pipeline that would carrycrude oil from Beaver Lodge, N.D., across northern Minnesota toWisconsin. It would
extend 610 miles from the Bakken oilfields to anEnbridge terminal in Superior, Wis.In exchange for
Marathon’scommitment to take part in the open season for Sandpiper and itsinvestment, it will earn about 27
percent interest in Enbridge’s NorthDakota System when the Sandpiper pipeline is done. Marathon will
alsohave the option to increase its ownership interest to 30 percent throughadditional investments in future
system improvements, the companiessaid.The Sandpiper would increase the Bakken takeaway capacity ofthe North
Dakota system by 225,000 barrels per day to a total of580,000 barrels per day.In 2012, Marathon agreed to be
the anchorshipper on the Enbridge Southern Access Extension pipeline fromFlanagan, Ill., to Patoka, Ill. As
a result of that commitment, Marathonhas the option to acquire a 25 percent ownership interest in
SouthernAccess Extension. Due to Marathon’s commitment to the Sandpiper,Marathon’s option for ownership
interest in Southern Access Extensionwill increase an additional 10 percent to a total of 35
percent.Marathonis the nation’s fourth-largest refiner. Marathon brand gasoline is soldat about 5,100
independently owned retail outlets across 18 states. ItsSpeedway LLC subsidiary runs the nation’s
fourth-largest conveniencestore chain, with about 1,470 convenience stores in nine states.Sandpiper is
scheduled to start operating in early 2016.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This
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