TransCanada frustrated with Keystone delay

TransCanada Corporation released the following statement from Russ Girling, TransCanada's President and Chief Executive Officer, related to another process delay announced by the US Department of State (DOS) 18 April, 2014 with respect to the permitting process for Keystone XL.

DOS said on 18 April that it will seek the input of eight federal agencies in the course of assessing the National Interest Determination. DOS had previously asked for their views by early May. State has now notified agencies that it is extending the period and providing more time for the submission of their views on the proposed project. A core reason for that, in the words of DOS, is the potential impact of the Nebraska Supreme Court case that could ultimately affect the pipeline route.

Statement from Russ Girling:

"We are extremely disappointed and frustrated with yet another delay. American men and women will miss out on another construction season where they could have worked to build Keystone XL and provided for their families. We feel for them.

We are also disappointed the US will continue to rely on regimes that are fundamentally opposed to American values for the eight to nine million barrels of oil that is imported every day. A stable, secure supply of oil from Canada and from the US makes better sense and I am sure a majority of Americans agree.

Another delay is inexplicable. The first leg of our Keystone pipeline began shipping oil to refineries outside of St. Louis in 2010. It is about the same length of pipe as Keystone XL, carries the same oil and also crosses the 49^th parallel. It took just 21 months to study and approve. After more than 2000 days, five exhaustive environmental reviews and over 17 000 pages of scientific data Keystone XL continues to languish. Our Keystone pipeline has safely delivered more than 600 million barrels of crude oil to US refineries, replacing foreign offshore oil.

The Nebraska routing situation is being managed appropriately. A notice of appeal was filed by Nebraska's Attorney General in February on the same day as the district court judge's decision regarding LB1161. This action 'stays' the lower court decision, meaning LB1161 is still valid and the Keystone XL reroute in Nebraska that was evaluated by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and approved by the Governor remains in effect.

Our view remains that the current 90 day National Interest Determination process that is now underway should not be impacted by the Nebraska lower court ruling since the approved reroute remains valid during appeal.

North American oil production is up dramatically and will continue to rise. That means without Keystone more oil will be shipped by rail and by barge. As the State Department concluded in its recent Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement not approving Keystone XL will lead to higher GHG's (greenhouse gas emissions) through other oil transportation options and greater public risk. Not building Keystone XL is a lose, lose, lose scenario any way you look at it.

Keystone XL improves American energy security, minimises the environmental and safety impacts of moving that oil to US refineries, helps contribute to jobs and American businesses and continues to have the support of a strong majority of Americans and Congress. It is truly in the national interest of America and a majority of Americans in poll after poll after poll continue to agree and just want this pipeline built.

It is unfortunate that interest groups and paid activists are blocking energy security, saying no to jobs, and creating a situation that actually leads to higher GHG's and greater public risk. Canadian oil will make its way to market with or without Keystone XL. It is in everyone's best interests that this project move forward."

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/28042014/transcanada_frustrated_with_keystone_delay/