TransCanada wins final nod for Gulf Coast Project

TransCanada Corporation has secured the final approval required to begin construction of its 780km oil pipeline in the coming weeks.

The company has received the last of three key permits required from the US Army Corps of Engineers in order to advance the project, and has previously received go-ahead from the Galveston, Texas, and the Tulsa, Oklahoma, districts.

The Gulf Coast project will form the southern leg of the project, which will transport growing supplies of US crude oil to meet refinery demand in Texas.

TransCanada president and chief executive officer Russ Girling said the company is now poised to put approximately 4,000 Americans to work constructing the $2.3bn pipeline that will be built in three distinct ‘spreads’ or sections.

"The Gulf Coast project and the entire Keystone system will further help the US achieve true energy security," added Girling.

The 36in crude oil pipeline will begin in Cushing, Oklahoma and extend south to Nederland, Texas to serve the Gulf Coast marketplace.

Gulf Coast refineries will access domestic production that will reduce the country’s dependence on foreign crude oil.

Construction work on the project is expected to begin in the mid 2012 with operation in mid-to-late 2013.

The project will initially handle a capacity of 700,000 barrels of oil per day which can be expanded to 830,000 barrels to Gulf Coast refineries.

The US Department of State is currently reviewing TransCanada’s application for a Presidential permit for the 1,897km Keystone XL pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska and is expected to make a decision in the first quarter of 2013.

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Image: The Gulf Coast Project will start in Oklahoma and extend to Texas to serve the Gulf Coast marketplace.Photo: Kevin Saff.