TransCanada Corp. pushed the start date for its $5.4 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline into 2016, the second delay this year as the company awaits U.S. approval for the project, reports BloombergBusinessweek.
The pipeline, which would stretch from Alberta’s oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, can begin operating no sooner than two years after it gets a U.S. presidential permit, Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said in an interview with Rebecca Penty of BloombergBusinessweek.
Environmental groups argue that the project would increase greenhouse-gas emissions by encouraging development of Alberta’s oil sands, which require more energy than most conventional crude production, the article notes; supporters say the oil sands will be developed with or without Keystone XL and the line’s construction will create jobs.
