TransCanada will proceed with construction of the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline while proceeding with a new application to build the northern portion of the pipeline, which will require State Department approval.
The company “informed the [State Department] that what had been the Cushing to U.S. Gulf Coast portion of the Keystone XL Project has its own independent value to the marketplace and will be constructed as a stand-alone Gulf Coast Project, not part of the Presidential Permit process,” TransCanada announced today. The State Department had previously not allowed portions of the Keystone pipeline to be constructed until the whol project, including the northern route through Nebraska, was approved.
President Obama supports TransCanada’s new construction plan. “The President welcomes today’s news that TransCanada plans to build a pipeline to bring crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf of Mexico,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. “We look forward to working with TransCanada to ensure that it is built in a safe, responsible and timely manner, and we commit to take every step possible to expedite the necessary Federal permits.”
As for the northern portion of the pipeline, which crosses from Canada into the United States, Carney said that the administration “will base a decision to provide a permit on the completion of that review.”
The State Department indicated last month that it would not expedite a review of any new application for the cross-border portion of the pipeline.
