ICBC contributes $120 million USD to the $2.5 billion USD syndicated loan for the Dakota Access Pipeline Project

Project narrative

On August 1, 2016, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 17 lenders — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $2.5 billion USD syndicated loan with Dakota Access, LLC — a Delaware-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by Dakota Access Holdings LLC (75%), a Delaware limited liability majority owned by Delaware limited partnership Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. and Phillips 66 Partners (25%) — for the Dakota Access Pipeline Project (DAPL). The $2.5 billion USD term loan carried a maturity period of three years and a final maturity date of August 2, 2019. The following lenders also contributed the following amounts to the $2.5 billion USD syndicate: Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) ($120 million USD), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) ($120 million USD), BNP Paribas ($120 million USD), Citigroup ($235 million USD), Crédit Agricole Group ($120 million USD), DNB ASA ($120 million USD), ING Group ($120 million USD), Intesa Sanpaolo ($120 million USD), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ($235 million USD), Mizuho Bank ($235 million USD), Natixis ($120 million USD), Société Générale S.A. (SocGen) ($120 million USD), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ($120 million USD), SunTrust Robinson Humphrey ($120 million USD), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($235 million USD), and Wells Fargo ($120 million USD). The proceeds would be used by the borrower to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) Project, comprising a portion of the Bakken pipeline system, an underground 1,172-mile, 30" light sweet crude oil pipeline that would transport approximately 750,000 barrels per day from the Bakken/Three Forks production area in North Dakota to an oil tank farm in Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline was to replace "bomb trains," or the environmentally risky practice of transporting crude oil by rail, during a period of increasing oil production in the Bakken region. Construction began in various stages in 2016 and was completed in April 2017. Operations began on May 14, 2017, when the first oil was transported through the pipeline. Commercial operations were reached on June 1, 2017, following a period of testing. However, the pipeline proved to be controversial during its planning and construction, leading to the selling of debt, protests, and US presidential intervention. Numerous indigenous rights, farmers, and environmental advocates opposed the pipeline. Energy Transfer Partners announced initial plans for the pipeline in 2014. Phillips 66 acquired its 25% stake in the project that year. Then, in September 2014, the project company met with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council. In October 2014, meetings were held with both affected Illinois and South Dakota property holders. In December 2014, meetings began with stakeholders in various impacted counties in Iowa. In late May 2016, farmers in Iowa sued to block the use of eminent domain to secure land for 364 miles of pipeline in the state, which would cut through 1,295 unique properties. Additionally, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe publicly opposed the pipeline as it was constructed.5 miles from reservation land, running over sacred land that had been taken from the tribe in 1958. Protests were held at various construction sites, in local towns, as well as in Washington, D.C. throughout 2016 and 2017. As early as October 2014, Iowans petitioned then-governor Terry Branstad against the pipeline. On April 1, 2016, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Standing Rock's Historic Preservation Officer, established Sacred Stone Camp on the Standing Rock Reservation, along the Cannonball River, near the junction of Missouri and North Dakota for organizing and solidarity against the pipeline. By September 2016, members from more than 300 US federally recognized tribes were at the camp, which had spread to three distinct camps. In August 2016, protests halted construction near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, later that month, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe published resolutions from 87 indigenous governments opposing the project. In late 2016 and early 2017, two Standing Rock tribal leaders appealed to United Nations bodies, both the UN Human Rights Council as well as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Still, on September 3, 2016, the Dakota Access project company hired a private security firm and bulldozed contested sites, which may have included burial grounds and other sacred land. Pepper spray and attack dogs were deployed on protestors. On October 27, 2016, the National Guard, North Dakota state troopers, and law enforcement from neighboring states started to clear out blockades and an encampment along Highway 1806, using military equipment and riot gear. Over the course of the protests, one protestor was killed, approximately 300 were injured, and more than 800 arrests were made. In April 2025, a federal judge ruled that the US federal government owed the state of North Dakota almost $28 million USD in damages for the response to protestors in the state. As a result of the controversies, President Barack Obama paused the construction of the controversial section of the pipeline in 2016, while the project construction was approximately 70% complete. President Donald Trump reinstated its progress upon his 2017 inauguration. Further, on March 21, 2017, ING Group announced that it had sold its stake in the loan and removed itself from the project after learning of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposition. Later that month, DNB ASA also announced that they had sold their share of the debt. In March 2020, a United States District Judge called for a new environmental impact statement (EIS) in response to indigenous rights lawsuits. On May 3, 2021, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, who were to prepare the new EIS, announced that the pipeline would remain in operation while the report was prepared. On September 8, 2023, the Corps provided a draft report, promising to release the full, updated EIS in 2025.