Today, February 8, 2011, after close of business, TransCanada announced that the second phase of the $12 billion Keystone Pipeline had begun commercial deliveries of crude oil to Cushing, Oklahoma.
(Note: this is not necessarily good news for the Bakken from an investor's point of view. There is already a surplus of oil at Cushing, and with more oil flowing in, the price of crude being delivered to Cushing could come under pressure. At least that's how I understand it.)
The second phase of this project was a new 300-mile extension of pipeline from Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing. This extension increased Keystone's nominal capacity to 590,000 bopd, of which 530,000 is already contracted.
With the recent announcements of the Bakken and the Cushing Marketlink projects, TransCanada can now transport 350,000 bopd from Montana, North Dakota, and the rest of the mid-continent, to Cushing.
The next phase for the Keystone Pipeline system is the US Gulf Coast Expansion (Keystone XL) project. This 1,660-mile extension would move oil all the way from Hardisty, Alberta, to terminals near Port Arthur, Texas, to serve US Gulf Coast refineries. The proposed pipeline route would take it through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
It really is quite incredible what TransCanada has completed in the past ten (10) months. TransCanada has completed seven major projects just since last summer (2010):
- The initial phase of Keystone began operations in the summer of 2010
- The North Central Corridor natural gas pipeline
- The Groundbirch natural gas pipeline
- The Bison natural gas pipeline (North Dakota)
- Maine's largest wind project -- Kibby Wind, became operational in late October, 2010
- Halton Hills Generating Station in Ontario began producing power in the fall of 2010
- Cushing extension (announced today)
- The Coolidge Generating Station in Arizona
- The Guadalajara natural gas pipeline in Mexico
By the way, the Keystone XL project is shovel-ready. It's just waiting for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to sign off on it. I'm surprised the president hasn't called her and asked her what she's waiting for.
The Keystone XL will move the oil out of Cushing and to the coast, thus increasing the price of Bakken oil by as much as $3/barrel according to past stories.
TransCanada has put together a pretty cool video of the Keystone XL -- obviously it's a public relations marketing video, but I have to admit, if you are interested in the oil industry, this is a very informative presentation.
No, I don't own any shares in TransCanada ... yet.
Where is Hillary to sign this getting some people working, or does it appear that the great 0bama team would sooner have everyone collect 99 weeks of unemployement..
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I don't know if you looked at the video or not, but it's a pretty good video. Those Canadians -- doing a pretty good job right here in the US.
ReplyDelete