Southern leg of Keystone to open next month

The southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline will become operational in January 2014. According to Oklahoma oil producers, the pipeline will remove a glut of crude oil at a storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, and help them achieve a price that better competes with what producers along the Gulf Coast receive.

According to TransCanada, the 485 mile southern leg is expected to become operational on the 3rd January 2014. The filling with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said, "We remain focused on completing the construction, testing and commissioning for the Gulf Coast Project." Once completed, the pipeline will initially carry up to 700 000 bpd of oil form Cushing to Port Arthur, Texas.

Unlike the main part of the pipeline, the southern leg crosses no international boundaries, so it does not require the US State Department’s approval. TransCanada can operate the pipeline independently of the northern leg, and the pipeline will help relieve the oil glut at the Cushing terminal, giving US oil access to global markets.

In 2012, President Barack Obama visited Cushing and urged construction of the southern leg. "Producing more oil and gas here at home has been, and will continue to be, a critical part of our all-of-the-above strategy," Obama said. According to Obama, the southern leg should be a priority, freeing up the "bottleneck" of oil heading to refineries and helping to "increase our oil supplies at a time where we need as much as possible."

Tony Say, Chief Executive Officer of Clearwater Enterprise, Oklahoma, told 'The Oklahoman', "We have a lot of oil being developed in the state. Having another outlet going south is very positive for us."

Edited from various sources by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/09122013/southern_leg_of_keystone_to_open_next_month/