Keystone XL gets green light

Canadian pipeline operator TransCanada received a presidential permit from the US administration on Friday to proceed with the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, international media reported.

An official announcement is scheduled for 10:15 am EDT on Friday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told Reuters.

Keystone XL is an extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline that links Canada’s oil sands in Alberta with refineries and ports in the central USA and Gulf Coast region.

A 36-inch-diametre pipeline is planned to run 1,897 kilometres and carry as much as 830,000 bopd of crude oil from Canada through the US states of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

The project, originally proposed in 2008, has been at the centre of an intense debate over energy and the environment for years. Proponents of the project believe it will bolster US energy security and create some 42,000 jobs. Detractors have argued that the project would destroy animal habitats and threaten drinking water supplies. After a reversal of the State Department’s initial approval and six years of review, former President Barack Obama finally rejected TransCanada’s application in 2015.

Upon assuming office in January, however, President Donald Trump urged the company to re-submit its application and issued a presidential memorandum to expedite the approval process, prompting TransCanada to suspend a USD 15-billion lawsuit against the US over the project.

After securing the federal permit on Friday, the company is about to commence what will likely be a lengthy process of state-level approvals and legal challenges before construction can begin.

TransCanada plans to “continue to engage key stakeholders and neighbors throughout Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota to obtain the necessary permits and approvals to advance this project to construction,” the company said in a statement.