A proposed pipeline designed to carry Canadian tar sands oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast will be delayed further while the U.S government conducts an additional environmental review.
The U.S State Department announced Tuesday that it planned to conduct the additional review environmental groups had demanded. A presidential permit from the State Department is required because the pipeline would cross the U.S.-Canadian border.
Calgary-based TransCanada first submitted its Keystone XL project for State Department review in late 2008. The project is designed to carry crude oil from tar sands near Hardisty, Alberta, to the Gulf Coast via Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texa. TransCanada has also proposed connecting the pipeline to the Bakken oil field in Montana and North Dakota.
TransCanada officials had previously predicted that a decision on the project would come by the end of 2010. The State Department’s decision to issue a supplemental environmental report triggers a longer review process, so the Keystone XL project will be delayed further.
TransCanada’s President and CEO Russ Girling said he’s glad the review of the Keystone XL project is moving forward and he predicted that it would ultimately be approved.
“Keystone XL has been under review since 2008 and we are confident we have addressed the major questions raised by regulators and government agencies,” Girling said.
Supporters say the project could be a boon for U.S. jobs and energy production while strengthening a friendly source of oil. Pipeline opponents say the Keystone XL has the potential to be an ecological disaster and could jeopardize vast stores of groundwater under the Plains.
