Union claims Keystone XL's Canadian permit expired (Reuters)

Canadian energy producers lobbying for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline are targeting undecided Democratic lawmakers in Washington in advance of a decision on the US$5.3-billion project.

If you’re actually concerned about the environment, for long-haul movement of oil, you very much want to see that moving by pipeline A TransCanada Corp. executive says opponents to the Keystone XL pipeline should consider one consequence of delays in building the oil pipeline — an increase in dirtier and more dangerous rail transport.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be discussing the prickly subject of Keystone XL and wider Canada-U.S. energy relations in a question-and-answer session with Robert E.

WASHINGTON — Canada has taken action to protect the climate during the more than four years it has waited for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and there’s little more it can do in the short term, the country’s ambassador to the United States said. As the U.S. State Department delays approval of TransCanada Corp’s Keystone pipeline, which would link Alberta’s oil sands to refineries and ports in Texas, speculation has emerged that Canada could take further action on the climate to help make it easier for the United States to approve the project.

Tired of poor refining margins, Imperial Oil Ltd. has been soliciting buyers for its Dartmouth refinery in Nova Scotia since last May, and the announcement of new eastern pipelines has not led to a change of heart at the company — at least for now. The company has been saying that it has received multiple offers since last October and now expects to make a decision later this year.

A top risk-management analyst warned on Friday that a decision by Washington on TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline could get delayed again into next summer, adding more pressure to already deeply discounted Canadian oil prices. The U.S. State Department has said it will rule on the $5.3 billion Canada-to-Nebraska pipeline by the end of March, assuming Nebraska approves a new route that skirts an environmentally sensitive region in the state.

The ability of the oil and gas sector to absorb tough government controls on their greenhouse gas emissions depends on Canada getting a better price for its oil, Environment Minister Peter Kent says. The extra revenue would allow companies to invest heavily in leading-edge technology that would curtail pollution, he said in an interview from London.

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