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Construction spending on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline has been minimal since the Canadian government announced its $4.5-billion purchase of the expansion project and its existing assets from Kinder Morgan Canada.

In a conference call Wednesday to discuss financial results, Kinder Morgan Canada revealed it had spent about $1.25 billion on the $7.4-billion expansion project to May 31, the date that Canada started picking up the construction tab after reaching a purchase agreement the day before.

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But only another $41 million was spent in June, said Kinder Morgan. There were no figures for July.

The deal was reached after Kinder Morgan issued an ultimatum, saying it needed certainty that it could build the project through B.C. or it was walking away.

At the time, Kinder Morgan CEO Steve Kean said the company couldn’t put any more capital at risk without that certainty, particularly when they were at the stage that the next steps required a significant increase in construction spending of $300 million to $400 million per month.