TransCanada gains full ownership of Keystone pipeline
29 June 2009
TransCanada has announced its acquisition of ConocoPhillips' remaining stake in the Keystone pipeline for US$550 million (€392 million), giving it full control over the new Canada-to-US oil pipeline.
The $5.2 billion Keystone line is designed to carry 435,000 barrels of crude a day over a distance of 3,456 km from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in southern Illinois, US.
TransCanada will also assume $200 million in short-term debt. With the company indicated that the acquisition will require spending $1.7 billion more on the pipeline through 2012.
The subsequent expansion will boost capacity to 590,000 barrels a day and extend the line to the key oil storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma.
The first phase is expected to be commissioned late 2009 and be in service in early 2010, with the Cushing segment not due to be commissioned until late next year.
The deal follows TransCanada's acquisition of 20.1% of Keystone from ConocoPhillips last year.
Meanwhile, TransCanada is seeking approval for a further $7 billion expansion of Keystone, which would lift the system's capacity to 1.1 million barrels a day and extend it to the U.S. Gulf Coast by 2012.
