TransCanada's Southern Keystone XL Leg To Be Completed Soon -Report

The construction of the southern leg of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of October, TransCanada Corp executive Les Cherwenuk said on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News.

The 700,000 barrel per day pipeline will carry crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point of the U.S. crude oil future contract, to the Gulf Coast. Cherwenuk said the company would start filling the line shortly after construction is completed, the Bloomberg report said.

The company has been targeting completion of the project before the end of 2013.

The line fill is expected to draw a significant volume of oil stocks from the Cushingstorage hub, traders said. U.S. crude oil futures were up by 86 cents a barrel at $102.90 by 10:53 a.m. EDT (1453 GMT), outpacing gains in international benchmark Brent.

The decision on building the northern leg of Keystone XL, which would carry crude from the Canadian oil sands to Cushing, is not expected to be made in Washington until next year.