Horn River gas pipeline receives NEB approval

Horn River Basin in northern British Columbia. Some analysts predict that BC contains 650 trillian cubic feet of unconventional natural gas reserves.

TransCanada Corporation announced that its Horn River pipeline project has received regulatory approval from the National Energy Board.

TransCanada expects British Columbia shale gas supplies to climb to more than five billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) by the end of the decade and the Horn River pipeline will be the company's second major pipeline connecting its Alberta System with this prolific supply. The first extension of the Alberta System into B.C. was the Groundbirch pipeline, which came into service in December 2010.

"TransCanada's Horn River pipeline will provide a second direct point of access to the growing shale gas supplies in northeast B.C.," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "This new pipeline will provide our customers with safe and reliable access to the Alberta System and downstream markets, and we look forward to bringing this project into service by the second quarter of 2012."

TransCanada's approximately $310 million, 155-kilometre Horn River pipeline consists of a new 36-inch pipeline and acquisition of an existing 24-inch pipeline. The project will provide firm service for Alberta System gas transportation contracts that grow to over 630 million cubic feet per day by 2014.

Horn River and Groundbirch shippers have committed to Alberta System transportation contracts that will reach 1.9 bcf/d by 2014. This will help offset the recent decline in conventional Western Canada Sedimentary Basin volumes and contribute to higher throughput and lower tolls on downstream pipelines including the Canadian Mainline.

TransCanada has put into service six major projects in the last 10 months. The Keystone Pipeline System Phase 1 is delivering oil; the North Central Corridor, Groundbirch and Bison natural gas pipelines are all moving gas to market; Maine's largest wind project – Kibby Wind – became fully operational in late October; and the Halton Hills Generating Station in Ontario began producing power in the fall of 2010.

TransCanada will continue bringing large-scale projects into service in the coming months including Keystone Phase 2, the Coolidge Generating Station in Arizona and the Guadalajara natural gas pipeline in Mexico.