OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Oil should be moving through the 485-mile Gulf Coast oil pipeline from Oklahoma by the middle of January, a spokesman for TransCanada said Wednesday.
The Gulf Coast project from the oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla., is designed to carry as much as 700,000 barrels per day to refineries in the Houston area.
TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said customers can expect oil deliveries by Jan. 22.
"This is another important milestone for TransCanada, our shippers and the refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast who have been waiting for this product to arrive," he was quoted as saying by The Oklahoman, a newspaper based in Oklahoma City. "Providing this notice gives our customers time to ensure that they have the appropriate volumes of oil to move into our system when the pipeline is ready to go into full commercial operation."
The Gulf Coast pipeline is viewed as the southern U.S. leg of the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline, which is designed to run from Alberta, Canada, to the Cushing hub.
The heavier grade of Canadian tar sands crude oil designated for Keystone XL is viewed as more carbon-intensive to produce than rival grades. Keystone XL needs U.S. federal approval and President Barack Obama said he'd weigh its economic value against its environmental footprint.
