TransCanada Corporation, a North American energy infrastructure company,聽announced on Tuesday聽that it will expand its natural gas pipelines聽at a cost of approximately $2.7 billion.聽
The expansion decision comes after聽new customer contracts, which total approximately聽four聽billion cubic feet (120 million cubic meters) per day,聽said the company in a statement.聽
The $2.7 billion investment includes聽multiple pipeline projects, which in total constitute聽540 kilometres (336 miles) and聽are expected to be in service by the second quarter of 2017, the statement said.聽
TransCanada said that聽growth in unconventional natural gas supplies in Alberta and聽British Columbia, as well as oil sands development聽in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin,WSCB, have聽caused the increasing volume of contracts.聽
Canada's proved natural gas reserves were 67 trillion cubic feet (2 trillion cubic meters)聽at the end of聽2012.聽Most of the traditional natural聽gas reserves are from the WSCB, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.聽
The country also聽has an estimated 573 trillion cubic feet (17聽trillion cubic meters)聽of technically recoverable shale gas resources, with most deposits residing in WCSB, according to the U.S. agency.聽
TransCanada's wholly-owned subsidiary, NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.,聽currently transports more than three-quarters of the total WCSB production to markets to downstream Canadian and U.S. export markets, said the statement.聽
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency