Hurdles Still Remain For Keystone XL Pipeline

Almost ten years after pipeline company TransCanada first applied for a State Department permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the Trump administration has reversed the previous administration’s decision and signed off on the “disastrous” project.

At the signing ceremony, Trump asked Transcanada President Russ Girling when the pipeline construction would begin, apparently unaware that the pipeline still needs permits in Nebraska.

The presidential permit for Keystone XL did little to assuage concerns Friday from the investment community that the project, which has stoked controversy since its inception almost a decade ago, still faces a litany of challenges.

The multibillion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta into Nebraska, linking to an existing pipeline network feeding USA refineries and ports along the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO, recused himself from any deliberations because of the energy company’s investment in producing oil from Canada. I’m grateful to him for his quick action.

While previous phases of the Keystone Pipeline project, the fourth section, the XL portion that Obama rejected, has not been started.

But pipeline opponents point out that the State Department findings carried a more pessimistic caveat: that if no other pipelines got built, and oil prices remained low, then Keystone XL actually might lead to more production and therefore pollution. “Other federal agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers, state regulatory commissions, and even local planning boards may have requirements that need to be fulfilled by Keystone prior to construction”. “We greatly appreciate President Trump’s Administration for reviewing and approving this important initiative and we look forward to working with them”.

That’s some big pipeline, Trump said as he read over notes at his desk in the Oval Office.

The American Petroleum Institute praised the approval.

A 2015 study funded by the Department of Energy found that the oil sands from Canada emit 18% more greenhouse gases when processed into gasoline than that processed from traditional us crude.

This memorandum does not name Keystone XL or Dakota Access and does not mandate all US content in future projects. “I don’t think it would have ever gotten done”, Trump said on Friday. “We will support any and all avenues pursued by allies to prevent this risky pipeline from being built”.

The Republican Senator went on to signal that Welspun Tubular, a Little Rock pipe manufacturer, has already produced hundreds of miles of the pipe required for the project.

“Yes, the actual operating jobs are about 50”, Girling said.

Trump continued either to state or to imply that the two projects were subject to this directive until last week. “The construction of this pipeline is in the interests of both countries and meets goals that are aligned”.

“It’s been permitted by the president and that’s good for Evraz”, he told reporters. When it was first proposed, the United States was very much dependent on oil from the Middle East, but domestic production has almost doubled in recent years.

Environmentalists opposing the project argue it will contribute too much to climate change, because extracting oil from tar sands is a particularly intensive process.