The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition TransCanada is promising its proposed $12-billion Energy East pipeline will drive down the cost of crude for Eastern Canadian refiners while opening new export markets including on the U.S. Gulf Coast for Western oil producers. The Globe's Shawn McCarthy writes the company filed a 30,000-page application on Thursday with the National Energy Board, which is expected to take up to 18 months to review the project before making a recommendation. In a news conference in Toronto, TransCanada chief executive officer Russ Girling said the pipeline represents the safest and most economical way to transport crude from Western Canada to refiners. The company has 20-year shipping contracts covering more than 900,000 barrels a day (b/d) of the project's proposed 1.1-million-barrel-a-day capacity. With Energy East, TransCanada plans to convert portions of its mainline natural gas system to carry crude as far as Eastern Ontario, adding new pipe to get oil to refineries and tanker ports in Quebec and New Brunswick. He said the pipeline could deliver light oil east from western North America for $10 (U.S.) a barrel less than it costs to ship it by rail.