It’s official. U.S. President Joe Biden has canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline expansion.
Biden carried out his campaign promise to cancel the presidential permit that kept the Keystone XL expansion on track. In response, the pipeline owner said it would halt work on the project.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed disappointment at the news.
"While we welcome the President's commitment to fight climate change, we are disappointed but acknowledge the President's decision to fulfil his election campaign promise on Keystone XL," he said in a brief written statement.
Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. (TSX:TRP) said Biden's action overturns extensive regulatory reviews that found the pipeline would transport needed energy in an environmentally responsible way and bolster North American energy security.
The company also warned that the move will lead to the layoffs of thousands of union workers and comes despite TC Energy’s commitment to use renewable energy to power the pipeline and forge equity partnerships with Indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, environmental groups applauded Biden's move.
"Killing the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all is a clear indication that climate action is a priority for the White House," said Dale Marshall, national climate program manager for Canada's Environmental Defence.
TC Energy approved spending $8 billion U.S. in the spring of 2020 to complete Keystone XL after the Alberta government agreed to invest about $1.1 billion U.S. as equity and guarantee a $4.2 billion U.S. project loan.
The 1,947-kilometre pipeline is designed to carry 830,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. From there it would connect with the company's existing facilities to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast -- one of the world's biggest oil refining hubs.
Some 200 kilometres of pipe have already been installed for the expansion, including across the Canada-U.S. border, and construction has begun on pump stations in Alberta and several U.S. states.
