Tag Archives: Keystone XL Pipeline

TC Energy to cut 1,000 construction jobs, halt Keystone XL work

By Rod Nickel and Valerie Volcovici

WINNIPEG, Manitoba/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TC Energy Corp will eliminate more than 1,000 construction jobs in coming weeks and halt work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline after  revoked the project’s presidential permit, the company said in an email to employees.

Calgary-based TC Energy confirmed the authenticity of the email, sent by KXL President Richard Prior on Wednesday and seen by Reuters.

Biden’s decision to cancel the permit is likely to be the project’s death knell, after more than a decade of legal battles and shifting fortunes based on who held office in the White House. Opponents of the line fought its construction for years, saying it was unnecessary and would hamper the U.S. transition to cleaner fuels.

Proponents of the line argued that it created several thousand good-paying jobs and that pipelines remain the safest ways to transport fuel, but many analysts thought the chances of its completion were slim.

“KXL never quite escaped the shadow of uncertainty in the eyes of many producers,” said Thomas Liles, vice president for North American shale at Rystad Energy, in an email.

The United States imports more crude from Canada than any other nation, receiving roughly 3.8 million bpd in 2019, according to U.S. Energy Department figures.

The line, which would have carried 830,000 barrels of oil per day through the United States to Nebraska, was already well under construction in Canada.

Prior, in his email, said they will start to shut down construction at U.S. pump station sites and the Canadian portion of the project in coming weeks.

“I believe this will send a concerning signal to infrastructure developers that resonates far beyond our project and will stifle innovation for a practical transition towards sustainable energy,” he said in the letter.

During the U.S. campaign, Biden had committed to canceling the project, which has been in development since 2008. Former President Donald Trump approved a permit for the line in 2017 shortly after taking office, but the line afterward faced numerous legal challenges that hampered construction.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Nebraska regulators approve Keystone XL pipeline route

A TransCanada Keystone Pipeline pump station operates outside Steele City, Nebraska March 10, 2014.

By Kevin O’Hanlon and Valerie Volcovici

LINCOLN, Nebraska/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nebraska regulators voted on Monday to approve a route for TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline through the state, lifting the last big regulatory obstacle for the long-delayed project that U.S. President Donald Trump wants built.

The 3-2 decision by the Nebraska Public Service Commission helps clear the way for the pipeline linking Canada’s Alberta oil sands to refineries in the United States, but is likely to be challenged in court by opponents who say the project is an environmental risk.

The commission’s approval was not for TransCanada’s preferred route, but for a slightly longer alternative that could prove more difficult and costly to build. It was unclear whether the company will decide to pursue the project as it considers the commercial viability.

TransCanada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the commission’s vote.

TransCanda stock rose as much as 2 percent to the session’s high of C$63.80 after the decision, while the broader Canada stock index was up 0.2 percent.

Trump, a Republican, has made Keystone XL’s success a plank in his effort to boost the U.S. energy industry. Environmentalists, meanwhile, have made the project a symbol of their broader fight against fossil fuels and global warming.

The proposed line has been a lightning rod of controversy since it was first advocated nearly a decade ago. The administration of former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, considered the project for years before rejecting it in 2015 on environmental grounds, under pressure from activist groups.

Trump swiftly reversed that decision after coming into office this year, handing TransCanada a federal permit for the pipeline in March and arguing the project will lower fuel prices, boost national security, and bring jobs.

Nationwide, Trump has said Keystone XL would create 28,000 jobs. But a 2014 State Department study predicted just 3,900 construction jobs and 35 permanent jobs.

Trump’s decision placed the pipeline’s fate into the hands of the obscure regulatory body in Nebraska, the only state that had yet to approve the pipeline’s route. Permits along Keystone XL’s proposed 1,179-miles (1,897-km) path have been approved in Canada, Montana and South Dakota.

Opposition to the line in Nebraska has been driven mainly by a group of around 90 landowners whose farms lie along the proposed route. They have said they are worried spills could pollute water critical for grazing cattle, and that tax revenue will be short-lived and jobs will be temporary.

A lawyer for the landowners, Dave Domina, said the commission’s decision was a partial victory, because it denied TransCanada its preferred route. But he added: “We will carefully evaluate the Order and meet with our clients.”

Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer denounced the commission’s decision. “We will not stop making our voices heard until this project is dead,” he said in a statement.

Just days ago, TransCanada’s existing Keystone system spilled 5,000 barrels in South Dakota and pipeline opponents said the spill highlighted the risks posed by the proposed XL expansion.

An aerial view shows the darkened ground of an oil spill which shut down the Keystone pipeline between Canada and the United States, located in an agricultural area near Amherst, South Dakota, U.S., in this photo provided November 18, 2017.

An aerial view shows the darkened ground of an oil spill which shut down the Keystone pipeline between Canada and the United States, located in an agricultural area near Amherst, South Dakota, U.S., in this photo provided November 18, 2017. Courtesy DroneBase/Handout via REUTERS

The project could be a boon for Canada, which has struggled to bring its vast oil reserves to market. But there are questions about demand for the pipeline after a surge in drilling activity in the United States.

 

(Reporting by Kevin O’Hanlon and Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by Nia Williams and Ethan Lou in Calgary; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; editing by Grant McCool)

 

Some Chase branches in Seattle closed by protests over pipeline loans

Native American leaders and climate activists demonstrate outside of a Chase Bank location, to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. May 8, 2017. REUTERS/David Ryder

By Tom James

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Native American leaders and climate activists protested at several Chase branches in Seattle on Monday, forcing them to close temporarily as demonstrators demanded the bank not lend to projects like the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Police said 26 people were arrested by late afternoon. Activists said they disrupted operations at 11 Chase branches, and two other branches closed as well.

Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a spokeswoman for Chase, which is a unit of JP Morgan Chase & Co, declined to comment.

At a branch in downtown Seattle, about 50 protesters occupied the main lobby, where they made speeches, sang songs, held signs and banners and even ordered a tall stack of pizzas before police blocked the doors.

At another Seattle branch, a handful of protesters went inside while two others locked themselves by their necks to the front doors with bicycle locks.

“I have a personal responsibility to make sure we have a livable climate,” said a protester who locked herself to the door and would only identify herself as 21-year-old Andrea from Olympia, Washington.

Organizers of the protests aimed to dissuade Chase from lending to the companies behind two major oil infrastructure projects, the Keystone XL pipeline and Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, and tar sands oil production in general. Protesters said they were fighting global warming.

Keystone XL is a project of TransCanada Corp and Trans Mountain Pipeline is a project of Kinder Morgan Inc.

These efforts echo similar efforts with other banks as activists have shifted to targeting the financial backers of the pipelines rather than sites like the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, where thousands protested last year.

Bank are more sensitive to bad publicity than the pipeline companies, said Seattle city council member Mike O’Brien, who participated in one of the protests on Monday.

“It’s a relatively small percentage of their overall portfolio,” protest organizer Ahmed Gaya said of the banks’ stakes in various oil and gas pipelines. “If you can make that very small part … have a vastly disproportionate effect on their public image, that’s very persuasive.”

In April, Citigroup executives conceded they had approved investments in the Dakota pipeline too quickly after a noisy protest at its annual shareholder meeting, while Greenpeace activists protested Credit Suisse’s dealings with companies behind the same pipeline. The previous month, Dutch bank ING Groep agreed to sell its $120 million share of a loan for the Dakota pipeline.

(Reporting by Tom James, Editing by Ben Klayman and Cynthia Osterman)

Trump administration grants permit for Keystone XL pipeline: TransCanada

A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota, January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

By Luciana Lopez

(Reuters) – The United States has issued a presidential permit for TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Canadian company said on Friday, ending a years-long battle between environmentalists and the industry over whether Washington should approve it.

U.S. President Donald Trump will announce the permit alongside TransCanada <TRP.TO> Chief Executive Officer Russell Girling at the White House later Friday, according to a senior administration official. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said a Keystone XL announcement would come at 10:15 a.m. EDT.

TransCanada’s U.S.-listed shares <TRP.N> jumped 3.7 percent to $49.50 in premarket trading.

The pipeline linking Canadian oil sands to U.S. refiners had been blocked for years by former President Barack Obama, who said it would do nothing to reduce fuel prices for U.S. motorists and contribute to emissions linked to global warming. Environmental groups have forcefully opposed the pipeline.

Trump, however, campaigned on a promise to approve it, saying it would create thousands of jobs and help the oil industry, and signed an executive order soon after taking office in January to advance the project.

The multibillion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta into Nebraska, linking to an existing pipeline network feeding U.S. refineries and ports along the Gulf of Mexico.

Approvals are still needed from state regulators, and the pipeline could face legal challenges.

Expedited approval of projects is part of Trump’s approach to a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure package he promised on the campaign trail. The White House is looking for ways to speed up approvals and permits for other infrastructure projects, which can sometimes take years to go through a regulatory maze.

“It does fit into the overall strategy the president has for infrastructure,” the administration official said. The official, who asked not to be identified, added that Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, was also expected to be present at the announcement.

Conservatives have said they support quick approval. Nick Loris, an energy and environmental researcher at the Heritage Foundation, said on Thursday that approval would “re-establish some certainty and sanity to a permitting process that was hijacked by political pandering.”

Environmental groups that have opposed the pipeline say they will continue the fight with petitions, political pressure and mass protests.

(Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and Jeffrey Benkoe)