U.S. Approves TransCanada's $5.2B Keystone Gas Line Project

March 16, 2008 9:48 a.m. EST

Calgary, Alberta (AHN) - The United States State Department has given the go signal for TransCanada to proceed laying a $5.15 billion gas pipeline that would export crude oil from Alberta to the United States.

The Keystone gas line will stretch 3,456 kilometers and is seen to increase oil exports by as much as 4.5 percent, delivering 590,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma.

"The U.S. Department of State issued a presidential permit to Keystone authorizing the construction, maintenance and operation of facilities at the United States and Canada border to transport crude oil between the two countries," said Hal Kvisle, TransCanada's president and CEO.

Construction of the Keystone line will start in the second quarter of 2008 and will be completed at the end of 2009.

Canada has been the largest crude supplier to the U.S. since 2004. In 2006, it supplied 2.3 million barrels of oil per day, equivalent to 17 percent of total U.S. imports.