Kinder Morgan to expand Deeprock's Cushing storage

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP said on Wednesday the Deeprock oil storage facility at Cushing, Oklahoma, will build nine new tanks with a capacity of 2.25 million barrels to accommodate oil that will come from a reversed pipeline.

Deeprock currently has storage capacity of 1.75 million barrels at the oil hub, which has rapidly expanded in the past three years and has a total capacity of just under 80 million barrels.

The storage will take shale oil from North Dakota's Bakken formation traveling along the 430 mile Pony Express pipeline. The natural gas pipeline will be reversed and converted to carry oil by operator Tallgrass Energy Partners LP .

The project also includes two pipelines that will connect to five Cushing destinations and, once finished, will be able to handle 350,000 barrels of oil per day, Kinder Morgan said.

Kinder Morgan has a 51 percent stake in the Deeprock facility and said it would invest $26 million of the total $52 million project cost.

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki. Editing by Andre Grenon)