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ENERGY: TransCanada says Keystone oil pipeline capacity to expand to 590,000 b/d per day

        (AlbertaIndex, July 6, Friday) --- TransCanada Corporation has announced an expansion in the capacity of the proposed Keystone oil pipeline project after the company secured additional commitments for 155,000 barrels per day of crude for delivery from Hardisty, Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma with duration averaging 16 years. The commitments were obtained through the successful completion of a binding Open Season held to support an expansion to 590,000 b/d and extension of the pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma. 

            The company said it has now secured long term contracts for a total of 495,000 b/d with an average duration of 18 years.
           

The Keystone pipeline will have an initial nominal capacity to transport approximately 435,000 b/d of crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to US Midwest markets at Wood River and Patoka, Illinois when it enters service in late 2009.
            The expansion and extension would involve additional pump stations and the construction of a 473-kilometre pipeline from the Nebraska/Kansas border to Cushing, Oklahoma with an in-service date of late 2010.
            With the Keystone expansion and Cushing extension, the nominal capacity will increase to 590,000 b/d.
            “This commitment from shippers clearly confirms the value of TransCanada’s Keystone project as a cost-competitive way to link growing oil sands supply to US energy markets,” said TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle. “With this support, we expect to move to the next phase of the project, expanding the pipeline to the US Gulf Coast. We plan to market capacity for this next expansion throughout the balance of 2007.”
            In February 2007, TransCanada received approval from the National Energy Board (NEB) to transfer a portion of its Canadian Mainline natural gas transmission facilities to Keystone Pipeline subject to the approval of a facilities application to construct and operate Keystone’s Canadian facilities.
            An NEB public hearing on this application concluded last June 21. TransCanada has also submitted applications for US regulatory approvals at federal and state levels.
            Upon regulatory approvals, construction of the 2,969-km Keystone pipeline is expected to begin in early 2008.
            TransCanada has more than 50 years experience in developing and operating North American energy infrastructure including natural gas pipelines, power generation, gas storage facilities, and projects related to oil pipelines and LNG facilities. Its network of wholly owned pipelines extends more than 59,000 kilometres, tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America.
            TransCanada is one of the continent’s largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 360 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.
            An independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, approximately 7,700 MW of power generation in Canada and the US.
 



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