Facing Tougher Regulations, Transcanada Scraps $12 Billion Oil Pipeline

"CALGARY, Alberta - TransCanada Corp abandoned its C$15.7 billion ($12.52 billion) cross-country Energy East pipeline on Thursday amid mounting regulatory hurdles, dealing a blow to the country’s oil export ambitions.

The demise of the pipeline comes less than a year after the Canadian government rejected another export pipeline, Enbridge Inc’s Northern Gateway, and is a further setback for Canada’s oil industry which is already hurting from low global crude prices.

The vast majority of Canadian crude exports go to the United States, and Energy East would have shipped 1.1 million barrels a day to east coast ports for loading onto tankers destined for higher-priced markets in Europe and Asia. "

Nia Williams and Ethan Lou report for Reuters October 5, 2017.