Never Say Die - Keystone XL Pipeline to Enter U.S. Presidential Election

A new front may soon open in the battle over pipelines that transport Canadian oil to the U.S. And this one involves a line that would carry even more oil derived from Alberta’s tar sands than TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL, a project that has inflamed environmentalists who say it would exacerbate climate change. The public doesn’t seem to have the same sort of attention for pipeline expansions as they do for pipeline construction. But we’re talking about a lot of crude

“I’m very optimistic we will get the contractual support we will need and what I would hope is the pipeline goes all the way to Saint Joh.” – Russ Girling Crude from Alberta’s oil sands sells at a 30% discount to its U.S. counterpart. TransCanada Corp. Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling plans to narrow that gap whether or not his Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico wins approval from the Obama administration.

It will take focus and determination over the next several years to open new markets. And that is job one for my government CALGARY, Alberta — Alberta’s premier warned on Thursday that the Western Canadian province faced a $6 billion shortfall in revenue due to deeply discounted prices for its crude oil but offered no specifics on how to prevent falling deeper into the red.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is seeking to counter opposition to TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, a project crucial for boosting Canada’s economy and Harper’s plans to make the country an energy superpower to rival Saudi Arabia. Harper, at an event Thursday moderated by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said there is a strong case for the U.S. government to approve the pipeline, citing the prospects for job creation and North American energy independence.

WASHINGTON – TransCanada Corp’s proposed reroute of its Canada-to-Nebraska Keystone XL oil pipeline avoids many sensitive ecological regions in the state, a report from the Nebraska environmental regulator said on Friday. The U.S. State Department is working with Nebraska as it forms its own environmental assessment of the pipeline, which would link with the southern half of the project which is already under construction in Texas.

A rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline by President Barack Obama would push more of Canada’s US$73-billion oil exports onto trains, which register almost three times more spills than pipelines.

Canada’s oil is the environmentally responsible choice for the United States, Canada’s natural resources minister said in Chicago Tuesday. Joe Oliver said Canada is and wants to remain the U.S.’s most important energy partner, building on a long and multi-layered partnership between the two countries. “Our countries share the same GHG-emission-reduction targets,” he said in a noon speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “We are both committed to environmental protection and to continually improving technology.”