Enbridge Inc kicked off one of the most sweeping expansions in its history on Wednesday, a $3-billion series of projects across its pipeline system aimed at moving western Canadian crude to Eastern refineries and preventing bottlenecks in the U.S. Midwest.

Enbridge, already the largest transporter of Canadian oil exports, said $2.6-billion worth of the plan would support the reversal in flow direction of a pipeline between Sarnia, Ontario, and Montreal to move crude from the Alberta oil sands and North Dakota’s Bakken Region beyond southern Ontario.

The massive initiative would include additions of capacity to the company’s mainline in Canada and the U.S. Midwest with an in-service target of 2014. Read more …