Trump doubles down on Keystone XL pipeline, issuing new permit
WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump issued a new permit for TransCanada Corp.'s controversial Keystone XL pipeline Friday, circumventing a court ruling that blocked a previous authorization by his State Department.
The move aims to undercut legal challenges to the $8 billion project, including a November ruling by a Montana-based district judge that faulted the State Department's previous environmental analysis, according to a person familiar with the matter. It could pave the way for beginning some preliminary work, according to Clearview Energy Partners.
"It looks like the intent is to wipe the slate clean and replace the previous presidential permit with this new one," Height Securities LLC analyst Katie Bays said. Keystone XL doesn't need the changes to the supplemental environmental impact statement "because Trump invalidated that whole process and issued this new president permit."
The pipeline, proposed more than a decade ago, would carry crude from Canada's oil sands to the U.S. Midwest. Trump's State Department approved the project in 2017 after President Barack Obama denied TransCanada a permit on grounds its oil would contribute to global warning.
It's good news for Canada's energy producers after delays to planned expansions of the Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge Inc.'s Line 3. The lack of pipelines is partially blamed for a slowdown in oil sands investment and the partial pullback of some international oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
_ Bloomberg News
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