CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 26 - TransCanada Corp said on Thursday its customers are backing plans for a new C$340 million ($274 million) pipeline to ship natural gas from the burgeoning Horn River shale region of northeastern British Columbia to market.
TransCanada, the country's No. 1 pipeline company, said shippers have contracted to send 378 million cubic feet of gas a day on the line, to run 155 km (96 miles) from the Horn River region northeast of Fort Nelson to a connection with the company's Alberta pipeline network.
Construction is expected to be complete by the middle of 2011, TransCanada said, and the line will be expanded as needed.
Companies operating in the Horn River region, including EnCana Corp EOG Resources Inc Nexen Inc and others, have reported finding trillions of cubic feet of gas under their properties, ranking the discoveries among Canada's largest, but development of the field is in its early stages.
TransCanada said it has also received support for a new C$250 million line from the Montney region of northeastern British Columbia, another unconventional field where natural gas is trapped in hard to reach sandstone formations.
The company's customers have contracted to ship up to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day on the planned 78 km Groundbirch line by 2014 -- four years after construction is complete.
TransCanada did not specify how much gas the line, running from near Dawson Creek, British Columbia, into Alberta, will ship when it enters service late next year.
TransCanada shares rose 70 Canadian cents, or 2.3 percent, to C$31.20 by early afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
TransCanada, the country's No. 1 pipeline company, said shippers have contracted to send 378 million cubic feet of gas a day on the line, to run 155 km (96 miles) from the Horn River region northeast of Fort Nelson to a connection with the company's Alberta pipeline network.
Construction is expected to be complete by the middle of 2011, TransCanada said, and the line will be expanded as needed.
Companies operating in the Horn River region, including EnCana Corp EOG Resources Inc Nexen Inc and others, have reported finding trillions of cubic feet of gas under their properties, ranking the discoveries among Canada's largest, but development of the field is in its early stages.
TransCanada said it has also received support for a new C$250 million line from the Montney region of northeastern British Columbia, another unconventional field where natural gas is trapped in hard to reach sandstone formations.
The company's customers have contracted to ship up to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day on the planned 78 km Groundbirch line by 2014 -- four years after construction is complete.
TransCanada did not specify how much gas the line, running from near Dawson Creek, British Columbia, into Alberta, will ship when it enters service late next year.
TransCanada shares rose 70 Canadian cents, or 2.3 percent, to C$31.20 by early afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
