TransCanada Pipeline Gets Environmental Approval

A proposed pipeline that would deliver Canadian oil to Cushing and other U.S. destinations has passed another regulatory hurdle.

TransCanada Corp. said Friday that the U.S. State Department has approved the Keystone Pipeline project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement.

A final U.S. permit expected in February would authorize the construction of facilities at a North Dakota border crossing. Canada has approved the project.

“This outcome is another significant milestone in advancing the Keystone Pipeline project,” said TransCanada CEO Harold Kvisle.

TransCanada plans to start construction this spring on the 590,000-barrel-a-day, 2,148-mile pipeline.

TransCanada and Houston-based ConocoPhillips signed an agreement in 2005 for the Keystone to deliver crude to ConocoPhillips refineries in Wood River, Ill., and Borger, Texas, which are being expanded. The deal gives ConocoPhillips the right to own up to 50 percent of the pipeline.

Last January, ConocoPhillips signed an agreement with EnCana Corp., a Calgary-based company specializing in recovery of oil sands bitumen crude. The deal gives EnCana a 50 percent stake in the two refineries in exchange for ConocoPhillips getting 50 percent of EnCana’s Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands properties in Alberta.

Originally published by Bloomberg AP and Staff Reports.

(c) 2008 Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.