Oil's Changing Landscape: TransCanada Raises Keystone XL Cost Estimates, Announces Delays

摘要

TransCanada Corp. has raised the cost estimate of the beleaguered Keystone XL pipeline expansion by US$1 billion to $13 billion and said it expects regulatory delays. According to a February 15 statement, the Calgary-based pipeline company increased capital expenditure estimates, because the necessary regulatory decisions for the pipeline project are not expected until "mid-tolate 2011," and cited a "heightened political environment" and opposition to the project. "The revised capital cost estimate reflects currency translation, higher than anticipated costs to complete the first two phases of the project and an increase in the estimated cost of completing the U.S. Gulf Coast Expansion as a result of scope changes, evolving regulatory requirements and permitting delays," the statement reads.