CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. said Thursday that it has opened bidding for parties to sign binding commitments for use of a new crude oil terminal the company is planning to build.

Calgary-based TransCanada said bidding will be open through midday March 22 for the new Keystone Hardisty Terminal at a crude oil terminal hub in the province of Alberta.

TransCanada said the new terminal could be operational by early 2015. The above-ground facility will hold two million barrels of oil, but the company might expand the project based on the interest generated during the bidding.

TransCanada will begin seeking regulatory approval for the terminal after the bidding process closes.

TransCanada is the company that proposed the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from western Canada through six states to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

President Barack Obama blocked the pipeline project last month, saying officials did not have enough time to review an alternate route that avoided environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska.

TransCanada currently operates the 2,151-mile Keystone Pipeline System that carries over 500,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude oil to U.S. markets in the Midwest and to the benchmark crude oil hub in Cushing, Okla.

Shares of TransCanada rose 7 cents to $44.05 in afternoon trading.