Obama Criticizes Potential Benefits Of Keystone XL Pipeline

President Obama at TransCanada's pipe yard in Cushing, OK,
in 2012. The southern leg of Keystone XL did not require State
Dept approval. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

by Jennifer A. Dlouhy, FuelFix: President Barack Obama offered a dim view of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday [Dec 19, 2014], casting it as a project with big gains for Canadian oil producers but few tangible benefits for the United States.

Obama’s remarks in a pre-holiday news conference at the White House came as Nebraska’s highest court weighs a challenge of the pipeline’s proposed route through the state.

With his comments, Obama sent the strongest signal yet that he is unlikely to authorize the pipeline after a State Department review or in response to legislation forcing his hand next year.

“There is very little impact, nominal impact, on U.S. gas prices — what the average American consumer cares about — by having this pipeline come through,” Obama said. “It’s good for Canadian oil companies and it’s good for the Canadian oil industry, but it’s not going to be a huge benefit to U.S. consumers, it’s not even going to be a nominal benefit to U.S. consumers.”

Obama doubled down on his previous observations on Keystone XL, including his skepticism of the potential jobs that would be created or sustained by the $8 billion TransCanada Corp. project. Last year, Obama said it would be a “blip” in the U.S. economy and create “maybe 2,000 jobs” during construction.

“The construction of the pipeline itself will create probably a couple thousand jobs — those are temporary jobs,” Obama said Friday. “There’s probably some additional jobs that can be created in the refining process down in the Gulf. Those aren’t insignificant . . . but when you consider what we could be doing if we were rebuilding our roads and bridges around the country, we could probably create hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

Although the State Department said Keystone XL would support roughly 42,000 jobs, some of those would only be indirectly supported and others would last only for the duration of construction, spanning about two years. TransCanada has said about four dozen workers would be required to keep the pipeline running later.

If authorized and built, Keystone XL would run 1,170 miles from Alberta to Steele City, Neb., giving Canada’s oil sands crude a vital link to a Midwest oil hub and other pipelines that could ferry it to Gulf Coast refineries.

Supporters argue that the pipeline would boost the U.S. economy while while weaning the country off Venezuelan and Middle East oil.

But Obama said some of those claims have been exaggerated.

“There’s been this tendency to really hype this thing as some magic formula to what ails the U.S. economy,” he observed, “and it’s hard to see on paper where exactly they are getting that information from.”

The State Department, which is tasked with deciding whether the border-crossing pipeline is in the national interest, has put that evaluation on hold while the Nebraska Supreme Court ruling is pending. That decision is expected early next year.

Obama emphasized that the State Department will have the information it needs to decide on the project once the Nebraska court rules.

But the president could face a decision on the project before then, if congressional Republicans have their way.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is putting legislation to authorize Keystone XL at the top of the chamber’s agenda next year, with plans to take up the bill in January.

The project is a flashpoint in bigger battles about fossil fuels and climate change. Because the bitumen Keystone would carry is harvested from Canada’s oil sands using mining and other energy-intensive steam-based techniques, environmentalists say the resulting heavy crude has a bigger carbon footprint than alternatives.

TransCanada argued Friday that Keystone XL is good for refiners and consumers in the United States.

“This is one of the largest infrastructure projects under consideration, funded with $8 billion in private sector investment, and it will be built by thousands of American men and women,” company spokesman Shawn Howard said in a statement. “Moving this oil by pipeline is safer, produces fewer emissions to get the product to a refinery or terminal and is a much more efficient way to move these crude oils over longer distances.”

Project backers also stressed that U.S. companies have a substantial footprint in the oil sands. The American Petroleum Institute said that at least 2,400 American companies in 49 states are already involved in Canada’s oil sands development.

“The president continues to talk about enhancing this nation’s infrastructure, yet for more than six years he has delayed the biggest shovel ready infrastructure project out there: the Keystone XL pipeline,” API said in a statement. “The president continues to ignore the findings of his own State Department and continues to side with the fringe anti-Keystone XL minority, whose only goal is to shut down fossil fuel development altogether — and the jobs, economic growth and energy security that comes with it.”

---

Tags: American Petroleum Institute, api, Barack Obama, Keystone, Keystone XL, KXL, magic formula, news conference, Obama, President Barack Obama, Sabrina Fang, Transcanada, TransCanada Corp To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!