
What are the benefits of Keystone XL pipeline?
On his first day in office, he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have supported thousands ... change as a rationale for canceling domestic energy initiatives that benefit average Americans. But his arguments don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Does the Keystone Pipeline affect gas prices?
There is already a Keystone pipeline that is shipping tar sands crude to Texas for refining; the XL is a shortcut and capacity increase. But with global demand low for oil products, having another pipeline on or off the permit table doesn’t change the price of anything.
What are facts about Keystone Pipeline?
Quick Facts
- Keystone XL 329 miles (529 km) in Canada (Hardisty, Alta., to Monchy, Sask.)
- 840 miles (1,351 km) in the United States (Phillips County, Mont. to Steele City, Neb.)
- 36-inch diameter pipeline Capacity of 830,000 barrels per day
Why to stop the Keystone Pipeline?
The Canadian company behind Keystone XL, TC Energy, operates a pipeline which spilled thousands of gallons of oil in South Dakota in 2017 and North Dakota in 2019. Activists and tribal members say the pipeline endangers water quality, breaks tribal land treaties and pipeline construction brings the threat of human trafficking.

Does the Keystone Pipeline benefit the United States?
The Keystone XL pipeline, a privately funded project, would double the current capacity of oil transported in the U.S. per day, provide the U.S. with a more stable source of crude oil, and significantly increase employment and capital within America.
What states benefit from Keystone pipeline?
Communities throughout Canada and the U.S., including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, have shown their support for Keystone XL Pipeline. These communities and businesses along the pipeline route are poised to benefit from construction and long-term operation of the pipeline.
What were the benefits of the Keystone pipeline?
Keystone XL will increase the price of heavy crude oil in the Midwest by almost $2 to $4 billion annually, and escalating for several years. It will do this by diverting major volumes of tar sands oil now supplying the Midwest refineries, so it can be sold at higher prices to the Gulf Coast and export markets.
Who does the Keystone pipeline supply?
US crude oilThe Keystone Pipeline System plays a key role in delivering Canadian and US crude oil supplies to markets around North America. It stretches 4,324 km (2,687 miles) from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and the US Gulf Coast.
Why was the Keystone pipeline a bad idea?
The pipeline could endanger many animals and their habitats in the U.S. and Canada. The pipeline passes over areas which provide habitats for 10% of the waterfowl population in the Continental United States.
Who shut down the Keystone pipeline?
Keystone XL was halted by owner TC Energy after U.S. President Joe Biden this year revoked a key permit needed for a U.S. stretch of the 1,200-mile project.
Where would the oil from the Keystone pipeline go?
It would enter the United States at Morgan, Montana, and travel through Baker, Montana, where American-produced oil would be added to the pipeline; then it would travel through South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would join the existing Keystone pipelines at Steele City, Nebraska.
Who owns the oil in the Keystone pipeline?
Owned by North American company TC Energy, the Keystone XL Pipeline “is the fourth phase of the Keystone Pipeline System,” an existing 2,687-mile pipeline whose Canadian portion “runs from Hardisty, Alberta, east into Manitoba where it turns south and crosses the border into North Dakota,” according to the company's ...
Where does the United States get their oil from?
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks where the U.S. imports from the most. Of the 7.86 million barrels per day the U.S. imported in 2020, the majority came from its North American neighbors: Canada, with 4.13 million barrels (52.5%), and Mexico, with 750,000 (9.6%).
When did Obama refuse to grant a permit for the Keystone pipeline?
When the Obama administration refused to grant the cross-border permit necessary to build TC Energy’s Keystone XL oil pipeline in November 2015, it struck a blow against polluting powers and acknowledged the consensus on this misguided project from a wide swath of people and organizations. “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change,” President Obama said. “And, frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership.” The Obama-era decision echoed a seven-year State Department review process with EPA input that concluded the pipeline would fail to serve national interests.
What would happen if Keystone XL was fully realized?
A fully realized Keystone XL would lead to more mining of that “nasty stuff” by accelerating the pace at which it’s produced and transported. (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as a necessary ingredient in the oil industry’s plans to triple tar sands production by 2030.)
How much oil would be transported by Keystone XL?
To be precise, it would transport 830,000 barrels of Alber ta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Some 3 million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country. But Keystone XL wouldn’t be your average pipeline, and tar sand oil isn’t your average crude.
Why is Keystone XL being opposed?
Opposition to Keystone XL centers on the devastating environmental consequences of the project. The pipeline has faced years of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. More than 90 leading scientists and economists have opposed the project, in addition to unions and world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter (together, these and other Nobel laureates have written letters against the project). In 2014, more than two million comments urging a rejection of the pipeline were submitted to the State Department during a 30-day public comment period.
When will Keystone XL be cancelled?
January 20, 2021 Melissa Denchak. UPDATE: June 9, 2021: TC Energy announced that it is canceling the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, putting an end to a fossil fuel project that endangered waterways, communities, and the climate, which President Biden denied a key permit for on his first day in office.
Where is Keystone XL?
The first, a southern leg, has already been completed and runs between Cushing, Oklahoma, and Port Arthur, Texas. Opponents of this project—now called the Gulf Coast Pipeline—say that TC Energy took advantage of legal loopholes to push the pipeline through, securing a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit and dodging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) more rigorous vetting process, which requires public input. The second segment is the currently contested 1,209-mile northern leg—a shortcut of sorts—that would run from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska.
Is Keystone XL pipeline shut down?
Most recently, on October 31, 2019, the Keystone tar sands pipeline was temporarily shut down after a spill in North Dakota of reportedly more than 378,000 gallons. And the risk that Keystone XL will spill has only been heightened: A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energy’s own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on ...
How much money will the Keystone pipeline contribute to the US economy?
It is believed that the Keystone XL pipeline has the potential to contribute more than $3 billion annually to the US economy once it become operational. It would also create an estimated $2.4 billion (in US dollars) for Canada, which would be split between the government, shareholders, and company reinvestments.
How many jobs will the Keystone pipeline create?
The US State Department has estimated that the construction of the pipeline project could create up to 42,000 jobs over a two-year construction period.
How many barrels of oil are in the Keystone pipeline?
The Keystone XL pipeline is a delivery system that is designed to carry over 800,000 barrels of oil sands petroleum per day from Western Canada to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast of the United States. Around half of the pipeline has already been completed, but its construction has always been opposed by various environmentalist groups.
What would happen if Keystone XL went active?
In practical terms: if Keystone XL goes active, it would be the equivalent of adding 5.6 million cars to US roadways every day. 6. Tar sands oil has the potential to be highly corrosive. The oil that will be piped through the Keystone XL extension is some of the most corrosive petroleum that is used today.
Why can Canadian producers raise prices with Keystone?
With Keystone, Canadian producers can raise prices because the quality of the petroleum will be better while they are able to cut into their overhead costs at the same time. 6. The amount of emissions added to the atmosphere from Keystone XL are negligible.
Is Keystone pipeline a full pipeline?
It isn’t a full pipeline project. The Keystone pipeline already exists in a completed state. At the moment, it delivers tar sands oil to the Midwest. The goal is to extend the pipeline down to the Gulf Coast to increase potential processing capacities with an asset that already exists.
Is Keystone XL a pipeline?
In this instance, its Keystone XL. 8. It isn’t a full pipeline project. The Keystone pipeline already exists in a completed state.
What is Keystone XL pipeline?
Keystone XL is an expansion of an existing pipeline, called Keystone, that carries Canadian crude into the U.S. It was first proposed in July 2008 by TC Energy Corp. , then known as TransCanada Corp., a pipeline company based in Calgary, Alberta, and ConocoPhillips , which was a joint owner until 2009.
How many barrels of gas would be added to the Keystone pipeline?
The Keystone XL Pipeline is an addition to the Keystone Pipeline, which would require another two years or so to complete. It would add about 830,000 barrels per day to the Keystone system.
What would happen if the German pipeline broke?
If the German pipeline breaks and leaks oil all over Russia, it won’t contaminate the American water supply. Biden is President of the United States. It’s his job to protect the United States from threats. And the XL pipeline posed a foreseeable threat.
How did the pumping industry help the US?
There was a large manufacturing base, as well as construction workers, many union positions that were involved in the construction. The increase in oil to the refinerys aided the US to be energy independent.
What does it mean if the state department had more leverage in dealing with oil producing countries?
This means the state department had more leverage in dealing with oil producing countries many run by dictators or undemocratic, in coming to agreements. This permotes peace. Without the pipeline much of that oil now has to be transported by rail, not a safe or efficient method.
When a power plant comes on line, is it the least efficient?
The same applies to a power plant when it goes from idle to powering-up. This is when the available wind stops or slows considerably based on relative production of power and amount of wind. When power plant comes on-line it is the least efficient. It is also when it is most critical to have available.
Will the US government benefit from the pipeline?
The US government won't directly benefit from the Pipeline at all, there are only indirect benefits. Personally, I would rather invest in renewable energy infrastructure like solar panels which would create more jobs and is better for the environment.
Who chaired the Keystone XL hearing?
Legislators react to findings. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R) of Kentucky, who chaired two hearings into the Keystone XL, heard positive testimony about the pipeline – as well as contradicting testimony that it would do little or nothing for energy security while raising Midwest oil prices. He still likes the project, however.
Why do environmentalists oppose the pipeline?
But others, including environmentalists who oppose the pipeline mainly because extracting oil from tar sands releases more greenhouse gases than other methods of harvesting oil, also argue the pipeline will do little or nothing to boost US energy security and will actually lead to higher oil prices in the Midwest.
How long does it take to approve the pipeline?
That bill would strip the president of authority to block the project and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 30 days to approve the pipeline. But most of the heated partisan rhetoric over job creation and gasoline prices glosses over ...
Will the TransCanada pipeline increase the price of oil?
In hearings last May and December, TransCanada officials admitted to US legislators that the pipeline will indeed increase the price paid for Canadian oil in the Midwest – but suggested those higher crude oil prices would not necessarily mean higher gasoline prices in that region.
Does the Keystone pipeline need to be built to bring Canadian oil to the US?
Less obvious, however, is the fact that the Keystone XL pipeline is not actually needed to bring all that new Canadian oil to the US – a flow now projected to rise to 1.7 million barrels per day by 2030, according to the same DOE study.
Is Keystone XL a no brainer?
Even so, supporters in Congress continue to call Keystone XL “a no-brainer" from a US energy-security standpoint, also arguing it would benefit consumers by lowering gas prices, too. Keystone XL's “supplies from reliable sources leads to lower costs, thereby putting downward pressure on prices,” one study on TransCanada's website says.
Will the Whitfield pipeline lower gasoline prices?
In an e-mailed statement, Whitfield's press secretary adds that the pipeline “will help lower the price of gasoline by bringing more oil supply to the market” and says the Department of Energy “specifically states that gasoline prices in all connected markets would go down.”.
How has Keystone pipeline affected Oklahoma?
Again, the impact will be felt not just in Oklahoma: The pipeline here increases the transport of oil to Cushing, one of the largest transshipment and oil-storage locations in the world.
Is the Keystone pipeline good?
Killing the Keystone XL pipeline does no tangible good and will doubtless cause harm to countless Americans, and even to the environment that the decision pledges to protect.
Why is the Keystone pipeline important?
The Keystone XL pipeline was designed to transport oil to the Gulf Coast because refineries in the region are already equipped to process heavier crude oils, like those found in Canada’s Alberta province. The same kind of crude oil comes to the region from Latin America. If the pipeline transfers as much crude oil to the Gulf Coast as ...
Where does Keystone XL pipeline go?
What gets exported. The Keystone XL pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. The oil will then flow through another pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries, where it will be refined into petroleum products like gasoline.
Does the Gillibrand pipeline affect gas prices?
The U.S. State Department did not respond to most of Gillibrand’s claim but did comment on how the pipeline could affect gas prices. "As the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement makes clear, gas prices throughout the United States are primarily driven by global market factors," a spokesperson said.
Does Keystone XL have oil?
The Keystone XL pipeline "doesn’t even have any oil for America.". The Keystone Steele City pumping station in Nebraska. The Keystone XL pipeline is supposed to connect to the station / Credit: Associated Press, 2015.
