Sufficient firm commitments were secured from parties interested in accessing the new terminal at the starting point of TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline System.   

“The open season held earlier this year for the Keystone Hardisty Terminal was very successful and confirms strong demand from Western Canadian producers for new infrastructure to allow them to move crude oil into the Keystone System,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.    

Binding, long-term commitments in excess of 500,000 b/d were received during the open season, leading to the opportunity to expand the proposed 2 million bbl of crude oil batch accumulation tankage and pipeline infrastructure to a 2.6-million-bbl terminal.    

TransCanada intends to proceed with the necessary regulatory applications for approvals to construct and operate this terminal at Hardisty, Alberta.    Subject to regulatory approval, the project is expected to be in service by late 2014 and cost about $275 million.   

The Keystone Pipeline System is an operational 3,467-kilometer (2,154-mile) pipeline that is delivering over 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil to markets and refineries in the U.S. Midwest and Cushing, Okla.   On May 4, TransCanada applied to the U.S. Department of State for a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline from the U.S./Canada border in Montana to Steele City, Neb.

TransCanada expects to receive the permit and begin construction of Keystone XL in the first quarter of 2013, with completion slated for late 2014 or early 2015.

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Hardisty’s Storage Facilities in TankTerminals.com: Enbridge