TransCanada files for natural gas permit
By Staff Reports
Argus Leader
PUBLISHED: November 21, 2007
TransCanada Corp., which is seeking to build the crude oil Keystone Pipeline through South Dakota to supply refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma with oil from Alberta, is also looking to expand its natural gas carrying capacity to better serve the Canadian oil industry which is the source of that crude.
TransCanada filed an application with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board today for a permit to build a new natural gas pipeline about 185 miles long in northern Alberta. Among the goals for the North Central Corridor pipeline is to improve service to growing markets in Alberta, largely related to the ongoing oil boom from developing Alberta’s huge oil sands reserves.
“The North Central Corridor is the most cost-effective facility to accommodate evolving gas supply and market dynamics both within and outside Alberta,” Hal Kvisle says. He is TransCanada’s president and CEO.
The North Central Corridor project is estimated to cost $983 million.
The proposed Keystone pipeline has become a source of controversy in both North Dakota and South Dakota. Property owners in the path of the pipeline are wary of how its construction would affect them, and there are environmental concerns if the line designed to carry about 500,000 barrels of crude oil under the Dakotas daily leaks.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has scheduled public hearings on Keystone Dec. 3 to Dec. 14 in Pierre. Following those, the PUC will decide whether to give TransCanada permission to build the pipeline.
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