TRANSCANADA CORP. $44.97 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 704.9 million; Market cap: $31.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) has formed a new 50/50 joint venture with privately held Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd.
The partners plan to build a 500-kilometre pipeline that would pump crude from Phoenix’s oil sands properties in northern Alberta to Edmonton. TransCanada will operate the new line.
TransCanada’s share of the project’s $3.0-billion cost is $1.5 billion. The partners aim to begin construction in 2014, and the line should start up in early 2017.
TransCanada is a buy.