TransCanada Corp. (NYES: TRP) filed an application with Nebraska authorities on Feb. 16 to route its Keystone XL Pipeline through the state, after U.S. President Donald Trump cleared the way for the project last month.
In November 2015, the pipeline company withdrew the route application it had made to the Nebraska Public Service Commission, after then-President Barack Obama denied a permit for the controversial project over environmental concerns.
The 1,179-mile (1,900-km) Keystone XL is meant to ship 830,000 barrels per day of mainly oil sands crude from Alberta to Nebraska and on to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Opposition in Nebraska from environmentalists and some landowners concerned about oil spills had been among several major hurdles facing the Keystone XL project.
The line's route through Nebraska has been the subject of a court case in the state over whether former Gov. Dave Heineman was entitled to approve the route.
A Nebraska Supreme Court decision in 2015 ruled in support of the pipeline, but a number of Nebraskan landowners filed suits against TransCanada alleging the project violated the state's constitution.
"The [Nebraska Public Service Commission] process is the clearest path to achieving route certainty for the project in Nebraska and is expected to conclude in 2017," TransCanada said on Feb. 16.
TransCanada also reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Feb. 16.
The company said earnings from its U.S. natural gas pipeline business rose more than four-fold to CA$416 million, due to its US$13 billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group in July 2016.
RELATED: TransCanada Buys Columbia Pipeline In $13 Billion Merger
The company's net loss attributable to shareholders narrowed to CA$358 million, or 43 Canadian cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from CA$2.46 billion, or CA$3.47 per share, a year earlier.
The latest quarter included charges of about CA$1 billion, while the year-earlier quarter had impairment charges of about CA$2.9 billion related to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Excluding items, the company earned 75 Canadian cents per share, beating the average analysts' estimate of 72 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 26.9% to CA$3.62 billion in the quarter. Analysts were expecting a revenue of CA$3.50 billion. (US$1 = CA$1.3025)
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