The executive chairman of the company that operates the Dakota Access Pipeline told attendees at this week's Williston Basin Petroleum Conference that the 1,176-mile crude oil pipeline will continue to move oil out of the Bakken in spite of demands that the flow be stopped while an environmental review is conducted.

"We're not shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline," said Kelcy Warren. "It's not gonna happen."

The crude oil pipeline began operation in June 2017, having met all the construction permitting requirements in the law. But a federal judge subsequently ruled that the pipeline's Missouri River crossing between Morton and Emmons County should have been subject to an Environmental Impact Statement rather than the less-comprehensive environmental analysis. The judge's ruling effectively invalidates DAPL's river crossing easement, and litigants led by the extremist group Earthjustice have demanded it be shut down while the EIS is completed.

Warren said despite the judge's ruling, he believes common sense dictates the pipeline's operation will be allowed to continue.

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