TransCanada says construction on Gulf Coast pipeline to finish this month

CALGARY – TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) says a pipeline to ship crude oil from Cushing, Okla., to the U.S. Gulf Coast is 95 per cent complete.

The Calgary-based company says major construction on the $2.3-billion pipeline is expected to wrap up by the end of October.

More work will need to be done before it can begin filling the pipeline with crudel, but the company hopes to see the project becoming operational by the end of this year, as planned.

The prospect of 700,000 barrels per day soon moving from Cushing to the Gulf sent West Texas Intermediate oil prices higher, with crude for November delivery gaining US$2.06, or two per cent, to close at US$104.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, the company is still awaiting a decision by the U.S. State Department on the more contentious northern portion of its Keystone XL pipeline.

TransCanada, which filed its application for Keystone XL more than five years ago, was able to go ahead with the southern leg first as a separate project because it doesn’t cross an international border.