TransCanada pushes back Keystone start-up date

TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T42.380.902.17%) has pushed back its expected start-up date for the Keystone XL pipeline to early 2015, amid bitter partisan battles over the project in Washington.

In an earnings report released Tuesday, the Calgary-based energy company said it was working with the state of Nebraska to reroute the line around the sensitive Sandhills regions in Nebraska, and will reapply for a federal permit.

But TransCanada now says it expects to commence shipments by early 2015, whereas the previously planned start-up date was at the end of 2014.

Last month, the Obama administration rejected TransCanada’s permit application saying it did not have enough time to study a new route under a deadline imposed by Republicans in Congress. But the administration said the company was free to reapply with its new route.

In a release Tuesday, TransCanada said it is working on a number of fronts to “largely maintain” the construction schedule of the project. “TransCanada will reapply for a Presidential Permit and expects a new application would be processed in an expedited manner to allow for an in-service date of early 2015,” it said.

In Washington, Republicans in Congress continue to push legislation that would take the decision out of the hands of President Barack Obama and essentially approve the project. But the bills are unlikely to get through a Democrat-controlled Senate, or past President Obama’s veto.

TransCanada said its earnings rose in the fourth quarter, versus the corresponding period in 2010. Earnings were $375-million in the fourth quarter of 2011 – or 53 cents a share – compared to $269-million, or 39 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The company said it had higher income from the commissioning of the original Keystone pipeline in early 2011, as well as increased Alberta power prices, but that was offset by lower contributions from Bruce Power, and weakness in natural gas storage and U.S. power.

For the full year, the company reported earnings of $1.57-billion, compared to $1.36-billion in 2010.

TransCanada also increased its dividend by 5 per cent, to 44 cents per common share, starting in the current quarter.

Original Article
Source: Globe 
Author: shawn mccarthy