Energy company Enterprise Products Partners said it's vetting interest in a pipeline that would service North Dakota and Colorado shale oil basins.

Dubbed the Bakken-to-Cushing pipeline, Enterprise said it was opening a vetting period to determine demand for capacity for a line that could carry an initial 340,000 barrels per day and expand to 700,000 bpd.

The pipeline would extend about 1,200 miles and service the Bakken shale area in North Dakota, as well as the Powder River and Denver-Julesburg basins in Colorado.

"This pipeline offers a reliable, safe, and economical solution that promotes continued development of some of our nation's most prolific producing areas and reduces the need for imports of crude oil," A.J. Teague, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Enterprise, said in a statement.

The United States is producing more oil than the existing network of pipelines can handle. Industry officials said transporting crude oil by rail is the primary alternative transit method, a route option plagued by safety concerns.

If backed, Enterprise said the pipeline would start with operations from Colorado to the primary oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla., by late 2016. Full service could begin the following year.