Calgary, Canada-based energy infrastructure company TransCanada Corporation announced Monday that it has sent a letter to the US Department of State to inform them of plans to file a Presidential Permit application--or a cross border permit--for the Keystone XL Project. The permit will be used to start construction of the pipeline from the US/Canada border in Montana to Steele City, Nebraska. TransCanada also stated in the letter that the remaining half of the project--from Cushing, Oklahoma to the US Gulf Coast-- has its own independent value to the marketplace and will be constructed as a stand-alone Gulf Coast Project, not part of the Presidential Permit process, also noting that the cost of the Gulf Coast project will be about US$2.3 billion and is expected to be completed from mid- to late-2013. The second portion was the most contested by environmental groups, which led President Obama to put off a decision on the pipeline until further studies were completed.
"Our application will include the already reviewed route in Montana and South Dakota," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO. "The over three year environmental review for Keystone XL completed last summer was the most comprehensive process ever for a cross border pipeline. Based on that work, we would expect our cross border permit should be processed expeditiously and a decision made once a new route in Nebraska is determined."