Magellan Midstream Partners LP said it started commercial service on Monday on its 300,000 barrel-per-day Bridgetex pipeline moving crude oil from West Texas to the Houston area. The highly anticipated pipeline running from Colorado City, Texas, to the Houston Gulf Coast area is seen as a major step towards alleviating a bottleneck of oil in the Permian Basin. That bottleneck, caused by a lack of transportation options to bring the crude to market, has led to a steep discount of that oil relative to delivery at nearby Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point of the U.S. oil futures contract. . The announcement is in line with previous comments from the company. Last month, Magellan filed tariffs with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with rates effective Sept. 11 for shippers on the pipeline, although it said it was expecting to begin commercial services towards the end of September. . PERMIAN PIPELINES A number of other pipelines may also help reduce the glut of crude in the Permian, although traders say they are not coming online quickly enough to offer immediate relief from the recent discounting. Sunoco Logistics Partners LP’s Permian Express II pipeline will move crude from the Colorado City area to the Gulf Coast. The pipeline will come into full-service in the second quarter of 2015. In early 2015, the 200,000 bpd Cactus Pipeline, operated by Plains All American Pipeline LP, will also move Permian crude south to connect with an expanded Eagle Ford Pipeline and move oil to Corpus Christi, Texas. Last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that with increased production in the basin, any loss of refinery demand can increase downward pressure on crude oil prices in Midland.