Developer: Dakota Access pipeline will not be rerouted

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Energy Transfer Partners Chief Executive Officer Kelcy Warren said the company will not consider rerouting its Dakota Access oil pipeline despite concerns voiced by tribal groups, according to an interview published Friday.

President Barack Obama said earlier that the government was examining ways to reroute a segment of the pipeline.

Energy Transfer did not respond to calls and emails from Reuters seeking comment. But in an interview with the Associated Press, Warren said he would like to meet with tribal leaders to ease their concerns.

Part of the Dakota Access pipeline has been delayed since September, when federal regulators including the Army Corps of Engineers decided to re-review permitting under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, a federally owned parcel the pipeline needs to cross.

The stoppage came after protests from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose reservation is adjacent to land where the pipeline runs. The Army Corps decided to review its permitting again, and this past week deferred a decision, citing concerns about the tribe having been moved off its lands in the past.

On Friday, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple asked the Army to resolve the permitting issues, citing protests that have sometimes turned violent at Cannon Ball, N.D., where the Standing Rock Sioux have erected a large camp that they plan to hold throughout the winter. He also asked for assistance in law enforcement from federal authorities.

'Further delays simply prolong the risks to public safety, prolong the hardships endured by area residents and increase costs incurred by the state of North Dakota and Morton County,” he said in a statement.

The 1,172-mile pipeline is expected to take oil from North Dakota's Bakken shale region - crossing 18 Iowa counties - to a hub in Patoka, Ill. From there, it would go to the Gulf of Mexico.

Production in North Dakota has been declining, however, in part because of low oil prices and also because of the limited transport opportunities by pipeline.

Production in North Dakota fell to 972,000 barrels daily in September, the lowest since February 2014, according to latest state data.

Pipeline crews have been moving equipment in recent weeks to the edges of Lake Oahe.

The company has said it will begin tunneling under the lake, but it does not have a permit to do so. However, most of the pipeline's route has been completed.