TransCanada Corp. said Tuesday it aims to file a regulatory application for its eastbound pipeline proposal by year-end following “encouraging” feedback from potential customers.
The Calgary-based pipeline (TSX:TRP) giant also acknowledged that a long-awaited State Department decision on its controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline is unlikely to come during the first quarter of this year.
TransCanada is in the midst of gauging shipper interest in a project that would see part of its underused natural gas mainline converted to oil service, shipping as many as one million barrels a day of western crude to refineries in Quebec and potentially the East Coast. Politicians are on board with the notion, with New Brunswick Premier David Alward and Alberta counterpart Alison Redford touting eastern pipelines in Calgary last week. Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has also embraced the idea.