TransCanada Launches Binding Open Season for Cushing Marketlink to Port Arthur and Houston

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 15, 2011) - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today launched a binding open season to obtain additional firm commitments from interested parties for the Cushing Marketlink Project to transport crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur and Houston, Texas.

TransCanada held a successful open season in 2010 allowing the project to proceed subject to regulatory approvals and provide transportation of U.S. crude oil production from Cushing to Port Arthur by mid-2013. The company is now seeking additional commitments to deliver crude oil to Port Arthur as well as commitments for new service to Houston. Transportation service to Houston is dependent on the proposed Keystone Pipeline System extension to Houston being built. The Cushing Marketlink Project would deliver crude oil using pipeline facilities that form part of TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL System.

"Access to the Houston market is expected to help alleviate current pipeline capacity constraints and provide shippers with desired transportation options from the Cushing market," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer. "With deliveries into Houston, we would double the refining capacity to the U.S. Gulf Coast that is accessible through the Cushing Marketlink project to over four million barrels per day of crude oil."

Following completion of the open season which closes at 12 p.m. (Mountain) on October 17, 2011, TransCanada intends to proceed with the necessary regulatory applications for approvals to construct and operate the required facilities and to provide transportation services. Subject to the receipt of the Keystone XL Presidential Permit, the Cushing Marketlink Project is expected to begin shipping crude oil to Port Arthur in mid-2013 and to Houston in 2014.

Keystone XL is a proposed 1,700 mile pipeline that would expand the existing Keystone system and deliver crude oil to refineries in the U.S. Midwest and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Keystone would increase U.S. energy security by providing Americans with a stable, secure supply of U.S. domestic and Canadian crude oil versus continuing to import unstable, higher priced crude oil from the Middle East and Venezuela. Keystone would create 20,000 American jobs during construction, inject $20 billion into the U.S. economy and pay over $5 billion in property taxes over the lifetime of the project.

Parties are invited to visit www.transcanada.com/cushing.html or contact oil_pipelines@transcanada.com, Ed Scheibelhut at 403.920.2746, David Diakow at 403.920.6019, or George Frey at 215.620.1545 for more information.

With more than 60 years experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and oil pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada's network of wholly owned natural gas pipelines extends more than 57,000 kilometres (35,500 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent's largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 380 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, over 10,800 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is developing one of North America's largest oil delivery systems. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. For more information visit: www.transcanada.com.

Forward-Looking Information

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