Jan. 11, 2008, 12:08PM
S.D.: Pipeline Passes Regulatory Hurdle
By DIRK LAMMERS AP Business Writer
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A proposed oil pipeline that would deliver Canadian crude to U.S. refineries has passed another regulatory hurdle.
TransCanada Corp. said Friday that it has received a Final Environmental Impact Statement from the U.S. State Department that says its planned Keystone Pipeline project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts.
The company said it anticipates a decision in February on a presidential permit authorizing the construction and operation of the facilities at the U.S.-Canada border crossing. The Final Environmental Impact Statement is a requirement for the presidential permit process.
"This outcome is another significant milestone in advancing the Keystone Pipeline project," Hal Kvisle, TransCanada's president and chief executive, said in a release.
TransCanada plans to start construction this spring on the 590,000-barrel-a-day Keystone pipeline, a 2,148-mile route passing through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Its goal is to deliver Canadian crude to markets in Patoka, Ill. and Cushing, Okla.
The Canadian government already has given regulatory approval for the route through Canada.
In South Dakota, the 220 miles of pipeline would run through Marshall, Day, Clark, Beadle, Kingsbury, Miner, Hanson, McCook, Hutchinson and Yankton counties.
Last month, the state Public Utilities Commission wrapped up testimony on TransCanada's construction permit application, but the commissioners have not yet issued a decision.
TransCanada and Houston-based ConocoPhillips Co. signed an agreement in 2005 to use the Keystone pipeline to deliver crude to ConocoPhillips' Wood River, Ill., and Borger, Texas, refineries, which are being expanded. The deal gives ConocoPhillips the right to up to a 50 percent ownership stake in the pipeline.
In January 2007, ConocoPhillips signed an agreement with EnCana Corp., a Calgary-based company specializing in recovery of oil sands bitumen _ the thick, gooey crude that's found in that part of the world.
The deal gives EnCana a 50-percent stake in ConocoPhillips' Wood River and Borger refineries in the U.S. in exchange for a 50-percent stake in EnCana's Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands properties in northeast Alberta.
