VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A day after US President Donald Trump signed executive actions clearing the way for contentious oil pipelines to be built in the US, TransCanada on Thursday resubmitted its Presidential Permit application to the US Department of State for approval of the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline.
This is the very permitting avenue TransCanada pursued previously that was ultimately rejected by former President Barack Obama on environmental grounds, ending a drawn out and highly politicised battle to build the conduit.
"This privately funded infrastructure project will help meet America's growing energy needs, as well as create tens of thousands of well-paying jobs and generate substantial economic benefit throughout the US and Canada," TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in a statement.
He argued that the KXL would strengthen US energy security and was in the national interest. The project is considered an important new piece of US infrastructure that will secure access to an abundant energy resource produced by a neighbour that shares a commitment to a clean and healthy environment.
“Several studies have shown that pipelines are a safer and more environmentally sound way to transport oil to market than trains and KXL raises the bar on both fronts," according to Girling.
The $8-billion KXL project will be subject to enhanced standards and utilisation of the most advanced technology.
Independent forecasts by the US Department of State estimate that KXL will support tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and associated income during construction and contribute approximately $3.4-billion to US gross domestic product.
TransCanada, which is active in 38 US states, committed to working productively with all stakeholders and tribal leaders as this project moved forward. During construction, in Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana alone, KXL will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in employee earnings as well as tens of millions of dollars yearly in local tax revenues, providing funds for local infrastructure spending.
The KXL was designed to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and the US to bring crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico coast. The proposed project entails a 1 897 km, 36-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline, beginning in Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, and extending south to Steele City, Nebraska, in the US. The infrastructure project is seen as critical to narrowing the discount crude producers in the Alberta oilpatch receive over their southern rivals.