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Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline in win for greens

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada in a victory for environmentalists who campaigned against the project for more than seven years. "The pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy," Obama told a press conference. He said it would not reduce gasoline prices, and shipping "dirtier" crude from Canada would not increase U.S. energy security. The denial of TransCanada Corp’s more than 800,000 barrels per day project will make it more difficult for producers to develop the province of Alberta’s oil sands. It could also put the United States in a stronger position at global climate talks that start in Paris on Nov. 30 in which countries will aim to reach a deal to slow global warming. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who determined the pipeline was not in the country’s interest before Obama’s final decision, […]

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Obama Keystone Rejection Stings Oil Producers Less After Crash

PlayCurrent Time 0:00/Duration Time 0:00Remaining Time -0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%00:00Fullscreen00:00MutePlayback Rate1Subtitles subtitles off Captions captions settings captions off Chapters Chapters No compatible source was found for this video.Foreground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-OpaqueBackground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindow—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyDefaultMonospace SerifProportional SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional Sans-SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsDefaultsDonexShare & EmbedCopy CodeAdvertisement What Obama’s Rejection of Keystone XL Means for Canada President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline solidifies what the market has been saying for months — there’s less appetite for expensive Canadian oil sands in an era of $45 crude. The $8 billion pipeline to transport crude from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico first proposed by TransCanada Corp. in 2008 has lost its urgency as the industry endures the worst price crash since the 1980s. Producers are shelving projects and reducing drilling, and after waiting so many years for the line’s approval, they can afford to wait longer for a new one. They’ve also found other […]

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Keystone XL Battle in Washington Belied Pipeline’s Actual Impact

PlayCurrent Time 0:00/Duration Time 0:00Remaining Time -0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%00:00Fullscreen00:00MutePlayback Rate1Subtitles subtitles off Captions captions settings captions off Chapters Chapters No compatible source was found for this video.Foreground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-OpaqueBackground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindow—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyDefaultMonospace SerifProportional SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional Sans-SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsDefaultsDonexShare & EmbedCopy CodeAdvertisement Obama: Keystone Would Not Serve U.S. National Interests The fight over the Keystone XL pipeline had all the elements of a classic Washington scrap: protests, political ads, scores of lobbyists on retainer. What was sometimes missing in the seven-year struggle, energy analysts say, was an accurate accounting of the project’s impact on the environment or the economy, the twin issues that drove the debate. Environmentalists said Keystone XL, which TransCanada Corp. first applied to build in 2008, raised the risks of climate change by encouraging greater production of Alberta’s tar sands. But a U.S. environmental review found the project’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions would be small. Republican […]

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Canada Prime Minister Faces Early Test from Keystone Rejection

OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces an early test in his pledge to improve Canada-U.S. relations after the White House on Friday rejected the Keystone XL pipeline project after seven years of review. The Obama administration said no to the controversial project just two days after Mr. Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister. While not a surprise, the decision represents a setback for Canada’s key energy sector, which is reeling from lower commodity prices and has encountered many hurdles in trying to move landlocked crude to new markets other than the U.S. Under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper , Ottawa placed significant importance on securing U.S. approval for the project, meant to ease the transport of oil from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Mr. Trudeau said he was “disappointed” with the rejection but saw an opportunity to rebuild strained ties between the two […]

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Energy Industry Decries Keystone Rejection

Spokesmen for the U.S. energy industry blasted President Obama’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline Friday, though the widely expected move won’t have much impact on the industry’s operations. Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the chief lobbying group for oil companies in the U.S., said five reviews conducted by President Barack Obama’s own administration over seven years showed that building the massive oil pipeline between Canada and the U.S. would be safe and help lower fuel prices for consumers. In the end, Mr. Gerard said, the White House capitulated to professional activists who advocate a “leave it in the ground” strategy toward fossil fuels. “It’s an assault on American workers and it’s politics at its worst,” he said. Record amounts of Canadian oil are flowing into the U.S. even without Keystone. So far this year the U.S. has imported 3.4 million barrels a day, accounting […]

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Keystone Refusal Shifts Focus to Next Oil-Sands Pipeline Sagas

With Keystone XL shot down by President Barack Obama, the Canadian energy industry — and its opponents — are turning their attention to the other options. Three pipelines proposed to carry rising oil-sands volumes from landlocked Alberta to Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts face delays as activists, local communities and politicians attack their risks to the environment in a repeat of TransCanada Corp.’s seven-year saga seeking U.S. approval. Producers from Suncor Energy Inc. to Royal Dutch Shell Plc are banking on the alternatives. TransCanada is touting an even bigger line to Canada’s eastern shores, while Kinder Morgan Energy Inc. and Enbridge Inc. are aiming for routes to the country’s west coast. The headwinds they face are putting the long-term development of the world’s third-largest oil reserves at risk. “We’re working hard with stakeholders, and we intend to act decisively to increase the likelihood of getting our product to tidewater,” […]

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From where do you want your oil, TransCanada asks

Keystone XL planner TransCanada says project is fundamentally about the source of North American crude oil imports. Photo courtesy TransCanada CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 5 (UPI) — The fundamental question over the Keystone XL debate is whether to use domestic oil or oil imported from Venezuela or the Middle East, TransCanada said. TransCanada asked the U.S. State Department to pause the review process for the Keystone XL pipeline while it waits for route decisions from Nebreaska’s government. The State Department refused the request . Mark Cooper , a spokesman for the company, said in an emailed statement TransCanada would continue to focus on building the pipeline. "The fundamental question remains: Do Americans want to continue to import millions of barrels of oil every day from the Middle East and Venezuela or do they want to get their oil from North Dakota and Canada through Keystone XL?" he said. "We believe […]

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Enbridge Reports Loss as Charges, Pipeline Delay Take Toll

Enbridge Inc. reported a loss in the third quarter as one-time charges and a delay in startup of a pipeline to Eastern Canada dragged on earnings. Canada’s largest pipeline company reported net loss of C$609 million ($463 million), or 72 cents a share, compared with a loss of C$80 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier, according to a statement Thursday. Excluding one-time items, per-share profit missed by 3 cents the 50-cent average of 13 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Enbridge has been transferring assets to affiliates such as Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. which contributed to C$351 million in costs in the quarter, along with C$654 million in one-time expenses related to changes in the value of derivatives. The delay of the reversal of Line 9, running from from southern Ontario to Quebec and initially expected to be in service in early 2015, and now will start deliveries […]

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U.S. will not pause Keystone review; Obama expected to reject

A TransCanada Keystone Pipeline pump station operates outside Steele City, Nebraska, in this file photo taken March 10, 2014. The United States formally denied a request on Wednesday to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, a decision expected to lead to the project’s rejection by the Obama administration. TransCanada Corp’s request to the State Department for a delay was seen by many as an attempt to postpone the decision until after President Barack Obama left office and a new president more friendly to the plan took over in 2017. The White House declined to comment on the State Department’s decision. Secretary of State John Kerry has not given a timeline for making a recommendation on the $8 billion project. "The secretary believes that, out of respect for that process and all the input that has gone into it, that it is the most appropriate thing […]

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White House tries to move KXL debate above politics

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says the Obama administration is working to move review process for Keystone XL oil pipeline above politics. UPI/Kevin Dietsch WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — The White House said it was working to shield the debate over the Keystone XL oil pipeline from partisan debates and focus instead in the project’s merits. Pipeline planner TransCanada asked the U.S. State Department, charged with vetting the project, to pause a review process while the route for the pipeline is under review in Nebraska. The pipeline has become a scapegoat for political debates over North American energy policy, with supporters touting its potential to stimulate the economy and detractors questioning the continued emphasis on crude oil in an age when climate concerns are mounting. The U.S. Congress has tried several legislative efforts to force President Barak Obama ‘s hand on the pipeline, moves the administration said would […]

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