Trump backs Keystone XL and Dakota Access

While the Keystone project was halted in late 2015 by the Obama administration, construction of the final section of the Dakota Access pipeline was stopped in late 2016, after the US Army Corps of Engineers denied the pipeline a permit to explore alternative routes for the pipeline to take.

However, according to Reuters, after yesterday’s move, oil producers in Canada and North Dakota are expected to benefit from quicker routes for transporting crude oil to refineries at the US Gulf Coast.

When signing the measures, Trump noted that the Keystone XL project would create approximately 28 000 construction jobs.

Fox News has quoted Trump as saying: “We’re going to put a lot of […] steel workers back to work” and “we’ll build our own pipelines, we will build our own pipes.”

Trump said that both projects would be subject to negotiated terms and conditions by the US.

Oil industry groups have widely praised the move as they believe that the pipelines will create jobs and cut energy costs.

However, with this signing coming amidst extensive protest, the decision has angered environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe who say that the current route of Dakota Access will damage cultural sites and could contaminate their water source. Energy Transfer Partners has long disputed this, stating that the pipeline will be safe.