TransCanada Corporation is moving forward with a pipeline project that will take Alberta crude to refineries and export terminals in the east.

The company made the announcement on Thursday and says the $12 billion project will see about 1.1 million barrel of oilsands crude per day shipped to Quebec and New Brunswick.

The pipeline will transport the product from “receipt points” in Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Montreal, near Quebec City and St. John, New Brunswick.

The pipeline will terminate in St. John and Irving Oil will partner in the construction of a $300 M deep-water marine terminal.

TransCanada says the response from stakeholders is good and that it will now seek the necessary regulatory approvals to begin construction.

Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and CEO, says the interest in the project led them to increase design capacity from an initial 850,000 barrels per day to more than 1 million.

“This response confirms the overwhelming industry support for innovative solutions to move crude oil to markets in eastern Canada and to elsewhere in the safest, most efficient means possible, which is in a pipeline,” Girling said.

TransCanada says the project will also create thousands of jobs across the country and provide a lower-cost source of energy for eastern Canadians.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said he welcomes the announcement and the “prospect of transporting Canadian crude oil from Western Canada to consumers and refineries in Eastern Canada and ultimately to new markets abroad.”

He says it's a way to lower prices for refineries and reduce their reliance on foreign suppliers.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford expressed her support for the project in a statement issued Thursday, saying it fits with the Canadian Energy Strategy.

"My government made a commitment to the project as part of our efforts to build new markets and get a fairer price for the oil resources Albertans own," Redford said. "This is truly a nation-building project that will diversify our economy and create new jobs here in Alberta and across the country."

Finance Minister Doug Horner says it is a positive announcement and he thinks it is a good utilization of Alberta’s resources to open up that market access.

“When we move from 1.5 to 2 million barrels per day to 5 million barrels per day, we’re gonna need to have access to markets from different points and having access to India as is the case of the east coast, is as critical to us as it is off the west coast. We’re gonna need those market points for price discovery across the continent so we can get rid of those differentials and close that gap,” said Horner.

Horner says that based on the amount of crude that will be coming out of the province in the future, the more access points the better.

The Council of Canadians issued its own statement, saying it will launch a national campaign to stop the project.

The group claims the pipeline poses potential environmental hazards, will not lead to energy security for Atlantic Canada and the number and quality of the jobs it will create remains unclear.

“While using an existing pipeline may reduce TransCanada’s costs, it increases spill risks for the many rivers, lakes and communities along the route,” Andrea Harden-Donahue, of the Council of Canadians, said in a statement.

The project will convert an underutilized natural gas line for 3000 kilometres of the route and should be in service by late  2017 for deliveries to Quebec and 2018 for deliveries to New Brunswick.

An additional 1400 kilometres of new pipeline will be constructed to complete the project.

The pipeline project will be subject to an environmental and regulatory review before it can go ahead.

(With files from ctvnews.ca)