President Barack Obama criticized the Keystone XL pipeline as a boon to Canadian oil producers that gives short-shrift to American workers, saying the U.S. should focus on backing domestic energy projects, Bloomberg reported Feb. 26.
In his first comments on the pipeline since vetoing a bill meant to force Keystone construction, Obama added an argument to his past skepticism of the project, saying the U.S. should focus on “American infrastructure for American jobs for American producers.”
“I’ve already said I’m happy to look at increasing pipeline production for U.S. oil,” Obama said Feb. 26 in an interview from Washington with WDAY television in Fargo, N.D. “But Keystone is for Canadian oil, sending it down to the Gulf. It bypasses the U.S.”
Obama has repeatedly challenged the merits of the $8 billion TransCanada Corp. (NYSE, TSE: TRP) pipeline from Alberta, Canada, south through the U.S., and on Feb. 24, he rejected Republican-backed legislation that would have bypassed a State Department review of the project and cleared the way for construction.
While backers have contended the project would create thousands of jobs, mostly during the construction phase, Obama said it probably would end up supplying 250 to 300 permanent jobs. He didn’t specify where those jobs would be. He has also questioned the project’s impact on energy prices.
‘Hyped’ Project
In a separate interview with KMBC in Kansas City, Mo., Obama said the Keystone project “has been hyped a lot by the oil industry.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Feb. 24 that Obama’s veto of the Keystone legislation was strictly about the legislation and not the project. It’s “certainly possible” that Obama would eventually approve the pipeline once a State Department review is completed, he said, without giving a timetable.
The pipeline would cross Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska on its way to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
North Dakota is at the center of a U.S. shale-oil boom, though that has subsided somewhat with a decline in global oil prices. The state’s jobless rate of 2.8% in December was the lowest in the U.S.
Obama has previously said he wouldn’t approve Keystone if the project was found to significantly add to the carbon pollution tied to global warming.
The WDAY interview was one of four with local television stations conducted in Washington as part of an administration effort to promote Obama’s trade agenda.
Recommended Reading
U.S. Shale-catters to IPO Australian Shale Explorer on NYSE
2024-05-04 - Tamboran Resources Corp. is majority owned by Permian wildcatter Bryan Sheffield and chaired by Haynesville and Eagle Ford discovery co-leader Dick Stoneburner.
1Q24 Dividends Declared in the Week of April 29
2024-05-03 - With earnings season in full swing, upstream and midstream companies are declaring quarterly dividends. Here is a selection of dividends announced in the past week.
Analyst Questions Kimmeridge’s Character, Ben Dell Responds
2024-05-02 - The analyst said that “they don’t seem to be particularly good actors.” Ben Dell, Kimmeridge Energy Partners managing partner, told Hart Energy that “our reputation is unparalleled.”
Tellurian Reports Driftwood LNG Progress Amid Low NatGas Production
2024-05-02 - Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG received an extension through 2029 with authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Zeta Energy Appoints Michael Everett as COO
2024-05-02 - Prior to joining Zeta Energy, a lithium-sulfur battery developer, Michael Everett previously served as president and COO at Advanced Battery Concepts.