TransCanada Corp. announced that it would go ahead with a $12 billion project to carry western Canadian oil to Canada’s east coast, and beyond, reports The Star.
The proposed pipeline project, Energy East, will take crude from western provinces as far east as Saint John, New Brunswick, passing through other Canadian cities, including Montreal.
That means converting 3,000 kilometres of the company’s main natural gas pipeline to carry oil, and constructing another 1,400 kilometres of new pipeline, mostly in Quebec and New Brunswick.
TransCanada President and CEO Russ said the line should be ready to deliver oil to Quebec refineries in 2017, and New Brunswick in 2018.
Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the line must undergo regulatory review.“Our government will only allow energy projects to proceed if they are proven safe for Canadians after an independent, science-based environmental and regulatory review,” the minister said.
The Energy East project will be able to carry 1.1 million barrels of crude eastward. The company has contracts with shippers for 900,000 barrels a day.
