TransCanada’s Northern Courier Pipeline Approved
The Alberta Energy Regulator has approved the application from TransCanada Corp. to construct and operate the Northern Courier Pipeline Project, a 90-km system in Alberta that is expected to cost $800 million.
“We are pleased that the Alberta Energy Regulator has approved Northern Courier, which will be a critical piece of infrastructure to support the long-term plans for growth and increased production from the Alberta oil sands,” said TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling. “We currently expect construction on Northern Courier to begin in the third quarter of 2014, with it being ready for service by 2017.”
TransCanada was selected by Fort Hills Energy LP to design, build, own and operate the Northern Courier Pipeline Project, which is fully contracted under a long-term agreement. The approximately 56-mile pipeline system will transport bitumen and diluent products between the Fort Hills mine and bitumen extraction facility and Suncor’s East Tank Farm, located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Northern Courier will consist of a 24-in. diameter insulated steel pipeline to transport bitumen, and a 12-in.diameter steel pipeline to transport diluent.
Northern Courier is an important component of TransCanada’s capital growth plan, which includes $38 billion of commercially secured projects expected to be completed by the end of the decade. Of these, $3.5 billion in projects are planned to expand TransCanada’s liquids pipeline network in the province of Alberta, including the proposed Grand Rapids and Heartland pipeline projects, and new storage terminal facilities at Hardisty and in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland region northeast of Edmonton.
For more information about Northern Courier, visit transcanada.com/northern-courier-pipeline-project.html.
Tags: Alberta Energy Regulator, Northern Courier, TransCanada
