TransCanada secures contracts to move forward with Keystone construction

Canadian energy company TransCanada has secured 20-year oil supply contracts allowing it to move forward with the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, it announced Thursday in a statement.

The agreements set out the transportation of around 500,000 barrels per day for two decades, a volume sufficient to confirm the pipeline's construction.

In November, the US state of Nebraska granted the last major permit needed to authorize construction of the pipeline -- but required it be built along a different route to that originally put forward.

The Keystone extension will be connected to an existing pipeline network in the US, allowing for 830,000 barrels of oil to be transported from landlocked Alberta, Canada to US Gulf Coast refineries.

The project, launched in 2008, was blocked by the Obama administration before Trump gave it the green light last year.

"Over the past 12 months, the Keystone XL project has achieved several milestones that move us significantly closer to constructing this critical energy infrastructure for North America," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

"We thank President Donald Trump and his administration for their continued support," he added.

TransCanada share prices rose 0.21 percent to $48.20 on the New York Stock Exchange as of 1720 GMT.