Report gives Keystone pipe a lift

Allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed would go a long way toward reducing U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil, says a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy.

And that report was read with great interest in downtown Calgary, seat of TransCanada, the company behind the project that would connect the oilsands with the refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“This study supports what we have been saying for some time — that Keystone XL will improve U.S. energy security and reduce dependence on foreign oil from the Middle East and Venezuela,” said TransCanada CEO Russ Girling, reiterating that construction of the pipe would create 20,000 well paying jobs south of the border.

But the report didn’t just refer to Keystone. It also singled out the oilsands as a source of energy that’s increasingly important to the U.S.

“Together, growing Canadian oilsands imports and U.S. demand reduction have the potential to very substantially reduce U.S. dependency on non-Canadian foreign oil, including from the Middle East,” the study says.

It’s an argument that’s largely congruent with what Canadian oil executives and industry lobbyists have been saying for some time.

Keystone, however, is still facing stiff resistance among landowners in states along the proposed path of the pipe.

Concerns vary from potential environmental impacts, especially on groundwater in the event of a leak, to property-rights issues dealing with rights-of-way.

Source: http://www.calgarysun.com