Calgary-based pipeline company Enbridge Inc. announced Tuesday plans to expand its pipeline system from the prolific Bakken and Three Forks crude oil formations.

The expansion will increase capacity by 145,000 barrels per day from the formations, which are located in an area that includes parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Montana.

Enbridge 3-month chart.

Enbridge has been grappling with the cleanup of 19,500 barrels of oil that spilled into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan after a break in its pipeline there on July 26.

The firm will spend about $580 million Cdn on the expansion, which must still be approved by regulatory authorities, and which can be further expanded to carry 325,000 barrels per day.

"The Bakken and Three Forks formations represent an area of tremendous opportunity," Enbridge vice-president Stephen Wuori said in a news release.

The Bakken has been the source of a boom over the past few years that has made North Dakota one of the top oil-producing states. Last year, oil production in the state rose by 27 per cent to about 218,000 barrels a day.

The company said it has already received enough long-term commitments from oil companies to use the new pipeline to justify building it.

Enbridge shares rose 21 cents to $52.46 on the Toronto Stock Exchange at midday.

With files from The Associated Press