Category: Pipelines

ENLARGE Pipes lie ready to become part of the Keystone XL pipeline near Cushing, Okla. President Obama has voiced skepticism over the project. Associated Press Prospects for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline are dimming amid two recent developments: lower gasoline prices and increased skepticism from President Barack Obama, whose administration has been reviewing the proposed pipeline for more than six years. Mr. Obama last week said he had doubts the pipeline would benefit the U.S., buttressing remarks he has made publicly at least three other times since early November. He said it wouldn’t create many permanent jobs or cut gas prices, as the project’s supporters have argued “It’s very good for Canadian oil companies, and it’s good for the Canadian oil industry, but it’s not going to be a huge benefit to U.S. consumers,” Mr. Obama said. Many analysts say falling U.S. gas prices boost the argument of […]

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Memo sent to White House says Keystone XL fails a series of key tests necessary to sanction the project. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Pipeline company TransCanada submitted the application to the U.S. federal government necessary to build Keystone XL across the U.S.-Canadian border more than six years ago. The project has faced stiff opposition from climate groups worried about the effects the heavier grade of Canadian crude oil would have on the environment. A memo sent to President Barack Obama from seven environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oil Change International, argues the pipeline would add to the development of Canadian crude oil and subsequently add millions of tons of carbon pollution to the atmosphere. "Market forces and the latest climate science make it clear Keystone XL shouldn’t be approved because it would drive up carbon pollution, making climate change worse and jeopardizing our future," Anthony Swift, […]

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AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared Tuesday that approving the Keystone XL pipeline will top the Senate agenda in January, potentially setting up an early veto confrontation with President Barack Obama. Congressional Republicans have been pushing for approval of the pipeline for years. Obama has resisted because of environmental concerns. "People want jobs and this project will create well-paying high-wage jobs for our people," McConnell told reporters. "We’re optimistic we can pass it and put it on the president’s desk." The $8 billion pipeline would carry oil from Canada into the United States and eventually to the Texas Gulf Coast. It has become a symbol for divisions over the country’s energy and environmental policy. Environmentalists say the issue is a significant test of Obama’s commitment to address climate change. Republicans and other supporters say the project would create jobs and promote energy […]

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Environmental activists are shown as they march through midtown protesting the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, in New York. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images ROBERT RAPIER: Crude oil and natural gas are both already transported all over the U.S. in enormous volumes. There is a 2.5 million-mile pipeline network underneath our feet that moves oil and gas all over the country. That is more than 50 times the length of the U.S. Interstate Highway System. These pipelines cross through national parks, rivers, underneath cities and above the nation’s aquifers—and there are pipelines crossing the U.S. border to the north and south. In addition to that, crude-oil volumes shipped by rail have increased rapidly in recent years. While protesters were trying to stop the 830,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone XL Pipeline that would connect the oil sands in Alberta and the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, […]

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TransCanada says Keystone XL a means to protect North American oil markets. (courtesy TransCanada) CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 18 (UPI) — The equivalent of eight Keystone XL oil pipelines have been built in the United States since an application was submitted, planner TransCanada said Tuesday. Members of a lame-duck Senate vote Tuesday on a bill that would authorize the construction of the cross-border Keystone XL oil pipeline. A similar bill passed through the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer at TransCanada, said he was "very pleased" with the level of support on Capitol Hill for the controversial pipeline. It’s been more than six years since Girling’s company submitted an application to build the pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border. In a statement Tuesday, Girling said it was disappointing that the equivalent of eight Keystone XL pipelines have been built in the United States since […]

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Pipeline Construction | Click to Enlarge The Senate will vote today on a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, after the House voted to approve it last Friday. The controversial pipeline would carry heavy oil sands crude from Canada and lighter Bakken crude to the Gulf Coast refining market. In 2013, The Congressional Research Service released a report that stated 12% of the Keystone XL Pipeline’s 830,000 b/d ultimate capacity has been set aside for the transport of Bakken Crude. The report further said the Keystone XL pipeline project would include a lateral pipeline, called the Bakken Marketlink, to carry oil from Baker, MT, to the bub in Cushing, OK. Although the Keystone XL Pipeline would play a role in the Bakken, its’ significance in the region has diminished slightly over time. Despite a still lacking midstream infrastructure in the Bakken, several pipeline projects have advanced as the political thunderstorm has […]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bill to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline failed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, sparing President Barack Obama from an expected veto of legislation that several fellow Democrats supported. The measure fell just short of the 60 votes needed for passage, despite frantic last-minute lobbying by supporters, especially Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who faces a runoff election on Dec. 6. She has staked her hopes of winning a fourth Senate term on the Keystone gambit. The tally was 59 to 41 on TransCanada Corp’s $8 billion project, with all 45 Republicans supporting the bill. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who will become Senate Majority Leader in January after his party made big gains in this month’s midterm elections, said after the vote that consideration of a Keystone bill would be "very early up" in the next congress.   Obama opposed the Keystone […]

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Print Back to story President Barack Obama offered his clearest critique of the case for the Keystone XL pipeline, signaling a confrontation with Republicans as they try to force approval of the project starting today. “Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf where it will be sold everywhere else,” the president said today during a visit to Yangon, Myanmar. “It doesn’t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.” The statement repeats a main point used by opponents of the project, including former hedge fund manager and now Democratic fundraiser Tom Steyer. He and other critics have argued the heavy crude from Alberta ’s oil sands that will be carried by Keystone is destined for overseas markets. Related: House Passes Bill to Approve Keystone Over Objections From Obama Keystone Left Behind as […]

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