TransCanada plans C$1.9 billion pipeline to serve Canadian LNG plant

(Reuters) - TransCanada Corp said on Wednesday it has agreed to build a C$1.9 billion ($1.74 billion) natural gas pipeline to supply a liquefied natural gas project on British Columbia's Northern Pacific coast planned by Chevron Corp and Apache Corp TransCanada, the country's No. 2 pipeline company, said the planned Merrick pipeline project will take 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Summit Lake, B.C., a distance of 260 kilometers (161 miles). There, it will meet the Pacific Trail Pipeline planned by the two partners backing the LNG project. The proposed line is the fourth in the works by TransCanada to supply northern British Columbia's nascent natural gas industry, which plans to liquefy the abundant shale-gas reserves in the province's north for export to high-paying markets in Asia and elsewhere. None of the handful of planned projects have received final approval from their backers. TransCanada said the line, which is conditional on Chevron and Apache proceeding with their LNG project at Kitimat, B.C., could be in service in early 2020, provided it receives timely regulatory approvals. "The initial work for the project is proceeding well, and we anticipate filing an application with the National Energy Board in the fourth quarter of 2014 for approvals to build and operate the project," Russ Girling, TransCanada's chief executive, said in a statement. TransCanada shares were down 0.2 percent at C$50.35 at midmorning on Wednesday on Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Scott Haggett; Additional reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto; editing by Matthew Lewis)