Category: Pipelines

Just because TransCanada continually states that the Keystone XL pipeline will be the safest pipeline ever built, doesn’t mean it is true. The company’s pipeline construction record is facing intense scrutiny in America’s heartland, where many see no justifiable rationale to risk their water and agricultural lands for a tar sands export pipeline . New documents submitted as evidence in the Keystone XL permitting process in South Dakota — including one published here on DeSmog for the first time publicly — paint a troubling picture of the company’s shoddy construction mishaps. This document, produced by TransCanada and signed by two company executives, details the results of its investigation into the “root cause” of the corrosion problems discovered on the Keystone pipeline. TransCanada Corporation is continuing its push to build the northern route of the Keystone XL pipeline. On July 27, the company appeared at a hearing in Pierre, South […]

Click here to view full article at www.resilience.org

Pipeline company TransCanada says it’s shipped 1 billion barrels of oil through the existing Keystone network through North America. (courtesy TransCanada) CALGARY, Alberta, July 20 (UPI) — The shipment of the 1 billionth barrel of oil through the Keystone oil pipeline system shows commitment to U.S. energy security, TransCanada said. The Canadian pipeline company said the pipeline system has brought in close to $200 million in taxes and generated more than 14,000 construction jobs since it was commissioned in 2010. "These one billion barrels of oil have helped to fuel North American energy independence and the U.S. economic recovery, which has seen a dramatic rise in the number of oil and gas jobs as well as an increase in supply through a mix of Canadian imported and domestic production," TransCanada President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said in a statement. The Keystone pipeline system stretches from Alberta to […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Canada is taking strong steps toward combating climate change, and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline crude oil pipeline remains in the US national interest, TransCanada Corp. said in a June 29 letter to US Sec. of State John F. Kerry and two senior State Department officials. “Given the passage of time, the facts supporting the proposed project have continued to build,” Kristine Delkus, TransCanada’s executive vice-president and general counsel, said in the letter to Kerry; Amos Hochstein, special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs at DOS’s Bureau of Energy Resources; and Judith G. Garber, acting assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. “For this reason, as a prudent applicant, TransCanada believes it is necessary to provide [DOS] with updated information on recent developments,” Delkus said. These developments include: • The Canadian government’s May 15 announcement that it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 30% […]

Click here to view full article at www.ogj.com

House leaders want answers from Plains All American and federal safety regulators in the wake of the May oil spill off the coast of California. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) — Congressional leaders said they want explanations from the company behind the May oil spill in California, as well as from federal safety regulators. A pipeline system operated by Plains All American, which has headquarters in Houston, leaked as much as 2,500 barrels of oil in Santa Barbara County in mid-May, the worst spill in California in 25 years. About 500 barrels may have reached the waters off the coast of Refugio State Beach and oil migrated more than 100 miles along the coastline. The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration released their preliminary findings of the integrity of the pipeline system. PHMSA said it found "extensive" corrosion, with walls degraded by as much […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

AP Photo LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters investigating a reported petroleum stench at a California beach last month didn’t take long to find a spill – oil was spreading across the sand and into the surf. Tracing the source, they found crude gushing from a bluff like a fire hose "without a nozzle," records show. But critical time would elapse before the operator of a nearby pipeline confirmed that it had ruptured and spewed the oil. An employee at the scene for Plains All American Pipeline initially suggested to firefighters that the spill "was too big to be from their pipeline," according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. The description of what firefighters found May 19 at Refugio State Beach was detailed in records Santa Barbara County firefighters filed with state officials. It indicates that firefighters who arrived just before noon quickly recognized that "some sort of […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

John D. Rockefeller’s empire wasn’t founded on owning oil fields but instead the means to process and transport oil. Alongside cementing his ruthless reputation, the efficiencies generated by Standard Oil led to a collapse in kerosene prices in the late 19th century. One rationale for Energy Transfer’s interest in Williams: its pipelines in the northeastern U.S. Gas flows have shifted dramatically as shale’s development has opened up new supply sources, not least the giant Marcellus Shale in the Northeast. Last year, this accounted for a fifth of U.S. gas production, according to Sanford C. Bernstein, largely meeting regional demand. But this is set to increase to one-third of U.S. supply by 2018, Bernstein estimates, helped by new and modified pipeline capacity allowing more gas to flow from the Northeast. Right now, bottlenecks there mean Marcellus gas often sells locally at big discounts to the already-low Henry Hub national benchmark. […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

A local official in Santa Barbara, Calif., rejected Tuesday an emergency request by Exxon XOM -0.32 % Mobil to use large trucks to haul its crude oil along a scenic highway until a pipeline that recently ruptured and caused a large spill is fixed. “There is not adequate evidence that a defined emergency exists,” said Dianne Black, the county’s assistant director of planning and development. She was enlisted to make the decision after the county’s planning director, Glenn Russell, recused himself since he recently owned stock in Exxon. Exxon was the main customer of a pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA -0.46 % that burst three weeks ago due to corrosion, spilling 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean and on beaches and killing wildlife. Exxon was using the pipeline to haul some 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil, and is being forced to scale […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

LOS ANGELES–A pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 101,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara last month occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness, federal regulators said Wednesday. The preliminary findings released by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration point to a possible cause of the May 19 spill that blackened popular beaches with crude oil and created a 9-mile slick in the Pacific Ocean. The agency said investigators found that corrosion at the break site had degraded the pipe wall thickness to 1/16 of an inch. Additionally, the report noted that the area that failed was close to three repairs that had been made to the pipeline because of corrosion after 2012 inspections. The findings indicate that over 80% of the metal pipe wall had worn away over time because of corrosion, said Richard […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Former U.S. pipeline regulator said domestic landscape may longer be suitable for a pipeline like Keystone XL. Photo courtesy of TransCanada HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) — U.S. crude oil production may be at a point where the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada isn’t needed, a former U.S. pipeline regulator said. President Barack Obama in February made good on his pledge to veto legislation the White House said circumvents the normal vetting procedures for the pipeline planned to cross the U.S.-Canadian border. Cynthia Quaterman, the former administrator for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told delegates at a Houston summit sponsored by energy reporting agency Argus the Keystone XL pipeline might not fit in the U.S. oil landscape. "With the amount of crude that’s being produced in this country now, I think it’s quite possible that the president might not approve the project," she said. "I […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM 0.01 % plans to ask Santa Barbara County, Calif., this week for permission to temporarily transport its crude oil in trucks after a pipeline it was using burst two weeks ago , spilling more than 100,000 gallons of oil off the coast. “The County will consider the information provided by ExxonMobil later this week and make an informed decision, based upon our zoning codes, policies and environmental review if warranted,” said Kevin Drude, who heads the county’s energy division, in an emailed statement. Mr. Drude said the pipeline, owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA 1.42 % LP, pumped about 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Exxon’s Las Flores Canyon facility to a pumping station in Gaviota, where the crude then continued on to refineries inland. The pipeline also was used to move some 4,000 barrels a day of oil produced by private […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) formed a Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force to help state agencies, natural gas producers, and communities closely work together as thousands of miles of pipelines are proposed to move gas and related products from wellheads to markets. The Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force (PITF) also will include representatives from the state legislature, federal and local governments, and environmental organizations, he said in announcing the group’s formation on May 27. “We need to work with the industry to make sure that the positive economic benefits of Pennsylvania’s rich natural resources can more quickly be realized in a responsible way,” Wolf said. “This taskforce is part of our commitment to seeing the natural gas industry succeed.” He named John Quigley, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s acting secretary, chairman of PITF. “Over the next decade, we could see the construction of as many as 25,000 miles of gathering […]

Click here to view full article at www.ogj.com

Volunteers clean up the oil spill at Haskell’s Beach in Goleta, Calif., on Wednesday. Workers on Thursday removed a section of a crude-oil pipeline that ruptured and spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil off the Santa Barbara County, Calif., coast last week. The piece of pipe will be sent to an independent laboratory in Ohio to determine what caused it to fail, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The agency ordered and supervised the removal and will station an inspector at the lab to observe the metallurgical testing. The pipeline will be shipped in two segments—one 19 feet long and the other 31 feet long, said PHMSA spokeswoman Artealia Gilliard, adding that the amount of time it takes to conduct the tests and analysis can vary. “There’s no definite timeline,” she said. She declined to provide details on the condition of […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Oil soaked kelp and oil sheen in Santa Barbara on May 20, 2015. Photographer: Brian van der Brug /Los Angeles Times via Getty Images A pipeline the oil market had all but forgotten resurfaced like a painful memory last week, spilling 500 barrels of heavy oil into the Pacific Ocean. Line 901. A quarter century ago, it was a pipeline full of promise. Today, it’s full of — not much, really. Before it leaked on May 19, pouring viscous crude into the waters off California’s coast, the 24-inch line was schlepping 28,800 barrels a day, mostly to a small refinery near Santa Barbara, at less than a fifth of its capacity. Graphic: California’s Oil Spill It’s a relic from another time, an era that peaked in the 1990’s when drillers dove into the waters off California’s coast chasing billions of barrels lying beneath the ocean floor. The state was […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

1 of 6 Workers continue the cleanup along Refugio Beach as efforts continue to remove the oil that has spilled an estimated 100,000 gallons off the Santa Barbara County coast in Goleta, California on May 22, 2015. A unified command center established for the spill said the worst-case estimate is that 2,500 barrels of oil was released from a pipeline operated by Plains All American. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo SANTA BARBARA, Calif., May 27 (UPI) — Plains All American defended pipeline infrastructure in California after last week’s spill, saying automatic shutoff valves were not the best safety option. Plains is working with state, local and federal regulators to remove part of its Line 901 from a region near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara. A unified command center established for the spill said the worst-case estimate is that 2,500 barrels of oil was released from the […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

ENLARGE Animal-care experts at SeaWorld San Diego attend to an oiled sea lion found Friday at Refugio State Beach near Goleta, Calif. Photo: Associated Press The amount of oil believed spilled from a ruptured pipeline off the Santa Barbara County, Calif., coast last week has been revised downward, as cleanup crews worked through the Memorial Day weekend mopping up crude off of eight miles of affected beaches. The pipeline’s owner, Plains All American Pipeline PAA -1.34 % LP, now estimates that the maximum amount spilled when the rupture was detected May 19 is 101,000 gallons, or 4,200 gallons lower than previous estimates officials of a state-federal joint unified command have announced. As of noon Monday, a total of 10,060 gallons of an oil-water mix created by the crude that reached the Pacific Ocean had been skimmed off of coastal waters and beaches, said Tom McKenzie, a U.S. Coast Guard […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

SANTA BARBARA Government prosecutors are investigating the company at the center of the California oil spill for possible criminal sanctions, according to the district attorney of Santa Barbara – a city that helped spawn the modern environmental movement. Perhaps one of the worst places on Earth for a crude oil leak, Santa Barbara is a beautiful sun-kissed coastal city rich with wildlife, environmental lawyers and wealthy liberal activists. This week it is also crawling with federal, state and local investigators and attorneys searching for grounds for a possible criminal prosecution against the Texas company whose ruptured pipe fouled beaches and offshore waters. "I am working with the federal government and the attorney general’s office to look into potential criminal, and/or civil prosecution," said Joyce Dudley, Santa Barbara’s district attorney. In an email sent to Reuters on Friday, Tami Kelly, a spokeswoman for Plains All American Pipeline, the Texas-based company […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

LOS ANGELES Owners of the oil pipeline that ruptured in California this week must take numerous corrective measures, including an in-depth analysis of factors contributing to the spill, before they can restart the line, federal safety officials said on Friday. The corrective action order issued on Thursday by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration is not regarded as a disciplinary enforcement sanction against the company, Texas-based Plains Pipeline LP, officials said. But it requires Plains to perform a detailed and lengthy list of actions before the oil line resumes operations, starting with removal of the failed pipe for metallurgical examination, purging the line of remaining petroleum and independent review of inspection results. It also requires a "root-cause analysis" of the spill, exploring not only the direct cause of the failure, but "every contributing factor" that may have played a part, including any safety compliance issues, said […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill Buy AP Photo Reprints Multimedia A year after the Gulf oil spill, problems remain Interactives Producers Tap Old Wells in Search of Oil The oil pipeline leak that fouled a stretch of California coastline this week reflects a troubling trend in the nation’s infrastructure: As U.S. oil production has soared, so has the number of pipeline accidents. Since 2009, the annual number of significant accidents on oil and petroleum pipelines has shot up by almost 60 percent, roughly matching the rise in U.S. crude oil production, according an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. Nearly two-thirds of the leaks during that time have been linked to corrosion or material, welding and equipment failures, problems often associated with older pipelines, although they also can occur in newer ones, too. Other leaks were blamed on natural disasters or human error, such as a backhoe striking […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

ENLARGE Workers clean oil Friday from the shoreline of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. On Friday, federal regulators ordered Plains All American Pipeline LP, the operator of the pipeline responsible for the spill, to determine the causes of the pipeline’s failure. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Officials at the U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the agency responsible for oversight of the line, said Friday the company must fulfill all of the requirements of the corrective order, issued Thursday, before the line can restart pumping oil. The order requires the company to determine the cause of the spill, and test the entire line for any conditions similar to the cause of the rupture. To do so, Plains All American must empty and purge the pipeline, and conduct a physical and analytical review that includes inspections of various engineering records and company data, among other materials. The […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

HOUSTON The state of Georgia’s top transportation official has denied Kinder Morgan Inc’s request for a key permit to build a $1.12 billion gasoline and distillate pipeline through the southeast part of the state. In a letter dated Monday, Georgia’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurray said he had determined that Kinder’s proposed 360-mile (579 km) Palmetto Pipeline is not critical enough to allow the company to condemn property and obtain easements along its route to allow its construction. "There is substantial evidence that the construction of the proposed pipeline will not constitute a public convenience and necessity," McMurray said in the letter addressed to an attorney representing Kinder in the matter, a copy of which was received by Reuters. Kinder Morgan was "evaluating all options to move forward with the project," Ron McClain, the company’s head of products pipelines, said in a statement on Tuesday. The company did […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

The Keystone XL pipeline has been on the drawing board for years. Photo: Amy Harder/The Wall Street Journal The Keystone XL pipeline has been under review by the U.S. government for more than six years. President Barack Obama could make a decision on the project in the coming weeks, though he faces no deadline. You’ve probably heard about this pipeline, but how much do you actually know about it? Take this quiz to find out. 1. What company is proposing to build the pipeline? a. ExxonMobil b. TransCanada c. EnergyFirst d. Enbridge Answer: B. TransCanada, of Calgary, Alberta, first announced it was going to build Keystone in 2008. 2. Approximately how many gallons of oil a day are proposed to ship through the pipeline? a. 35 million b. 830,000 c. 255 million d. 50 million Answer: A. By comparison, the U.S. consumes about 800 million gallons of oil a […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Our mental snapshot of the politics of the Keystone XL pipeline is pretty straightforward — Republicans and most independents want it built; so do some Democrats, but most Democrats and the environmental left are opposed. A new study in Energy Policy, though, suggests that this assumption about pipeline politics mainly holds on the national level — but not so much locally. Rather, the research finds, as you get closer to living near the proposed pipeline route, liberals and conservatives look less different in their views — and liberals as a whole become more in favor of the pipeline. The result suggests that anti-pipeline advocates may be losing the framing war to those who endlessly cite the pipeline’s alleged economic benefits. The research , conducted by Timothy Gravelle of the University of Essex and Erick Lachapelle of the University of Montreal, drew upon data from a series of three large Pew polls of […]

Click here to view full article at www.washingtonpost.com

U.S. President Barack Obama. Photographer: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Pool via Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Facing re-election and $4 a gallon gasoline, President Barack Obama sounded like an enthusiastic supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline at a March 2012 campaign rally. “I’m directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority,” he said in a speech in Cushing, Oklahoma, referring to a southern leg of the long-delayed project. Those days are gone. Now when Obama describes the next proposed Keystone segment he says it will only create about 300 jobs. He calls the Calgary-based pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. a “foreign company” and says the oil won’t benefit American motorists. And last week, he even said the process of extracting crude from the Alberta oil sands is “extraordinarily dirty.” After years of review, Obama may be finally nearing a decision on the $8 […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

ENLARGE Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said construction of the Keystone pipeline would pump billions into the U.S. economy. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News WASHINGTON—The Senate Wednesday defeated a Republican-led effort to override President Barack Obama’s veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline , the latest twist in a yearslong saga over the contentious project. In a 62-37 vote, the Senate didn’t get the required 67 yes votes necessary to override Mr. Obama’s veto of the bill, which would have authorized a Canadian company to construct the 1,179-mile pipeline. The project has been under review by the Obama administration for more than six years. Mr. Obama vetoed the legislation, not the pipeline itself. The administration retains the ultimate decision. The pipeline, which would carry up to 830,000 barrels of oil a day mostly from Canada’s oil sands to existing pipelines in Steele City, Neb., crosses an international […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

LONDON (Reuters) – "Because this act of Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest – including our security, safety and environment – it has earned my veto." With those words, the president returned the Keystone pipeline authorization act (S.1) to the Senate unsigned, and challenged lawmakers to find the two-thirds majorities in both houses needed to enact the law without his approval, something that remains unlikely. But by citing established procedures and the need not to short cut a thorough examination of the issues, after more than six years of environmental reviews, the president’s staff demonstrated they have absolutely no sense of irony and a deeply cynical approach to governing. The president’s advisers insist the administration has not yet taken a decision on the merits of the pipeline and is still waiting for the State […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday swiftly delivered on his vow to veto a Republican bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period. The Senate received Obama’s veto message and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to overturn the veto by March 3. Obama rejected the bill hours after it was sent to the White House. Republicans passed the bill to increase pressure on Obama to approve the pipeline, a move the president said would bypass a State Department process that will determine whether the project is in the U.S. national interest. "Through this bill, the United States Congress attempts to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest," Obama wrote in his veto message. Republicans, […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

ENLARGE President Barack Obama vetoed the Keystone XL legislation on the grounds that it would have bypassed the State Department’s review process. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that is a top priority for congressional Republicans and a touchstone issue for environmentalists and the nation’s booming energy industry. The bill would have authorized Canadian company TransCanada Corp. to construct the 1,179-mile pipeline, which has been under review by the Obama administration for more than six years. The bill, which declared the pipeline to have satisfied environmental laws, passed the GOP-controlled Congress earlier this year. White House officials said in early January that Mr. Obama would veto the legislation because it would have bypassed a continuing review process at the State Department, which has authority over cross-border pipelines like Keystone. Mr. Obama vetoed the legislation, not […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

A worker walks through the TransCanada Corp. Houston Lateral Project pipe yard in Mont Belvieu, Texas. TransCanada proposed the original line to link the oil sands and U.S. refineries in 2006. It was approved with zero fanfare less than two years later on Feb. 28, 2008, under President George W. Bush. Photographer: Scott Dalton/Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s veto of the Keystone XL bill is the latest sign to pipeline opponents that he’s prepared to reject a project he said won’t create many jobs or reduce U.S. oil prices. Obama rejected the Republican-backed bill because it interfered with a review being led by the State Department, though he hasn’t decided whether to approve a permit for the pipeline, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday. Pipeline backers in Congress may seek to attach Keystone to other bills that the president supports. Republicans don’t have the votes to override […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Mr. Obama, shown here signing, rather than vetoing, legislation, was spared having to wield the veto pen when Democrats controlled the Senate 2009-2014. Getty Images President Barack Obama ’s veto of Keystone XL pipeline bill was just the third veto of his presidency and the first legislation he has rejected since 2010. Mr. Obama’s statement saying legislation that would have approved the pipeline project “has earned my veto” was a rarity for a president who has wielded his veto pen fewer times than any U.S. leader in more than a century. James Garfield , who never used the power of the veto and who was assassinated in 1881 after less than a year in office, was the last president to veto fewer bills than Mr. Obama. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the high-water mark with a total of 635 vetoes. Mr. Obama’s predecessor, Republican  George W. Bush , vetoed […]

Click here to view full article at blogs.wsj.com

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 12 02/12/2015 The US House of Representatives voted by 270 to 152 to pass S. 1 , which would deem the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline approved more than 6 years after sponsor TransCanada Corp. applied for its presidential crossborder permit. The Feb. 11 action sends the measure to US President Barack Obama’s desk, where it is likely to be vetoed. GOP energy leaders on both side of the Capitol nevertheless urged Obama to approve the bill. “Now that Congress has spoken overwhelmingly in favor of closer energy ties with Canada, it’s time for President Obama to make a decision,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) said. She said, “To me, this is a pretty simple choice between job creation and greater energy security on one hand or more of the status quo on the other.” House Energy and Commerce Committee […]

Click here to view full article at www.ogj.com

ENLARGE Despite the yearslong fight over Keystone XL, TransCanada plans to ask the U.S. government to permit a new and different pipeline project. Photo: Reuters The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline plans to ask the U.S. government to permit a new and different pipeline project. Despite the yearslong fight over Keystone XL, TransCanada Corp. will apply to the U.S. State Department to build a 200-mile pipeline from North Dakota’s booming oil fields across the border into Canada to connect to another proposed pipeline, according to a person briefed on the plan. In its earnings report Friday, the company will announce it is proposing the $600 million Upland Pipeline Project, which aims to transport up to 300,000 barrels a day of North Dakota crude to a connection in Saskatchewan, according to the person briefed on the plan. From there, the oil can flow on TransCanada’s planned Energy East pipeline, […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Alberta’s premier says U.S.-Canadian energy partnership about more than just Keystone XL. Photo courtesy TransCanada WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) — While clearly in the region’s interests, the energy relationship between the United States and Canada is about more than Keystone XL, Alberta’s premier said. Submitted for approval more than six years ago, TransCanada’s planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta has become a scapegoat for the politics surrounding the debate over North American energy. Alberta Premier Jim Prentice told members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of his long-standing support for the pipeline. "I have long been a vocal advocate for the Keystone pipeline and for its approval by the U.S. government," he said in prepared remarks sent to UPI. From vetting of public comments on a State Department review, to delays because of legal challenges over the pipeline’s route in Nebraska, the White House has been accused of […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Oil and gas lobby group says EPA’s latest comments on Keystone XL another example of unnecessary delays. (courtesy TransCanada) WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) — A statement from the EPA on how low oil prices may influence decisions on Keystone XL pipeline ruffled feathers, with the industry crying foul. The Environmental Protection Agency said assessments made to date on the pipeline meant to cross the U.S.-Canadian border should be re-evaluated because crude oil prices are about 40 percent lower than when most recent considerations were made. Pipeline planner TransCanada submitted an application to the U.S. government to build Keystone XL more than six years ago. Louis Finkel, executive vice president for the American Petroleum Institute, said the EPA’s decision is another example of bureaucratic delays . "Suggesting that the drop in oil prices requires a re-evaluation of the environmental impact of the project is just another attempt to prolong the […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency said the government should factor in the recent trend of lower oil prices as part of its decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The EPA, in a letter sent Monday to the State Department, said the monthslong drop in oil prices should compel the department to “revisit” conclusions about U.S. oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions it made in an environmental assessment published in January 2014, which found the pipeline wouldn’t significantly add greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The State Department oversees cross-border pipelines and is in the process of deciding whether the Keystone project should receive a permit. The letter by Cynthia Giles, EPA’s assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, said building the pipeline at a time of lower oil prices could prompt production of more oil from Canada’s oil sands deposits. The letter said the 2014 environmental assessment […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Thursday to approve the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the White House saying earlier in the day that President Barack Obama would veto the measure. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill that would approve TransCanada Corp’s ( TRP.TO ) project to carry 800,000 barrels per day of heavy Canadian crude to Nebraska on the way to Gulf Coast refineries and ports. The House has passed its own pipeline bill and will work with the Senate to send the bill to the Obama’s desk. After the potential veto, Obama is expected to make his own decision on the pipeline after the State Department finishes a review in coming weeks. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Susan Cornwell ; Editing by Sandra Maler )

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com