The Eagle Ford Shale, Bakken Shale, and Niobrara Shale are all estimated to reduce U.S. oil imports by as much as 500,000 barrels a day over the next five years, according to an industry study. Shale Oil production could rise to 900,000 barrels a day in the same time frame and could be as much as 1.3 million barrels a day by 2020. Oil pipeline expansions from Cushing, Oklahoma, down to Houston and the Gulf Coast are needed to help improve prices for WTI crude in comparison to other benchmark crude prices. TransCanada Corp.'s planned Keystone XL will increase oil deliveries to refineries in Cushing and the Gulf Coast by 700,000 barrels a day starting in 2013. The Double E pipeline from Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer Partners and the Longhorn pipeline reversal by Magellan Midstream Partners might add 650,000 barrels a day of capacity into Houston from West Texas and Oklahoma.
Refineries are also looking to benefit. Valero Energy Corp, Flint Hills Resources, and Frontier Oil Corp. area all looking for ways to increase the amount of U.S. crude they refine. Growing U.S. oil production has created an exciting environment for every U.S. refinery.
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