Construction of TransCanada’s Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline is slightly behind plan, according to Genscape, a Kentucky-based provider of information to energy markets. The Gulf Coast Pipeline, which runs from Cushing, Okla., to the Texas Gulf Coast, is the southern leg of the larger Keystone XL project.
On Aug. 20, TransCanada said construction was over 90 percent complete and that the pipe was expected to be in service by the end of this year. Genscape believes this prediction to be optimistic based on construction progress. Genscape conducted a recent survey flight on Aug. 18 and estimates the first quarter of 2014 to be a more realistic in-service date.
The bulk of work remaining on the project is centered on the Cushing pumping station, where four of the seven newly constructed tanks have been tested with a fifth tank currently undergoing testing. However, Genscape says that the addition of mixing equipment as well as tank pipeline connections must be completed before the tanks can go into service.
In Northeast Texas, the pipeline will have two pumping stations - one located in rural Delta County and one near Winnsboro. Genscape says that exposed pipe was observed near the Delta County facility and that ground preparation continues at that site. The pumping station near Winnsboro appears near completion, Gensacape said.
Earlier this week, a Texarkana appeals court ruled in favor of TransCanada in a case filed by Lamar County landowner Julia Trigg Crawford. In the ruling, the court said that TransCanada was entitled by Texas eminent domain law to build the pipeline across Crawford’s farm, located northwest of Paris. Crawford said she’s planning to take the case to the Texas Supreme Court.
