Throwback Thursday: August 1999

In 1999, Basin Electric invested more than $100 million to build the infrastructure and pipeline that now delivers carbon dioxide produced at Dakota Gas to Saskatchewan, Canada where companies use it for enhanced oil recovery operations.

The August 1999 issue of Basin Today talks about the construction of this project in the story, “CO₂ pipeline construction report – from the trenches”:

“Since the May 12 groundbreaking, an assembly-line operation has been moving along at about two miles a day. As of Aug. 2, 60 percent of the pipeline construction in the United States was completed. The entire pipe is expected to be in the ground by Oct. 1. A period of hydro testing will follow to check the pipeline for leaks. Then the line will be dried to a dewpoint of -50 degrees F to prepare it for placement into service.”

Download a PDF to read the full story, on page 1: Basin Today August 1999

The first CO₂ was sent to Canada in fall 2000. Dakota Gas currently exports up to 155 million cubic feet of CO₂ per day to Canada – about two-thirds of the readily-available CO₂ when running at full rates.