CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- The Canadian government said it conditionally approved plans by a division of TransCanada to expand natural gas pipeline capacity in the country's west.
The National Energy Board announced it approved of three natural gas loops in northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta. The 69-mile loops make up the so-called Northwest Mainline Expansion Project submitted by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd., TransCanada's Alberta division.
The $325 million project will link natural gas supplies in the region to markets in Canada and the United States, the NEB said.
"The NEB's approval of this project is contingent on conditions that (NOVA) must meet," the agency said in a statement. "The conditions relate to pipeline integrity, the protection of the environment, protection and monitoring of caribou habitat, and matters of public and Aboriginal consultation."
The company estimates production from shale and conventional natural gas plays in the region could reach around 3.5 million cubic feet per day by 2025.
