Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to Gulf Coast - Research Paper Example

It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline presented by the pipeline’s developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, including other stakeholders’. Finally, this report points out the reasons why the remainder of this project has not been approved and how politics has influenced this approval. How likely the project is to be approved after the just concluded November U S presidential election? The Keystone Pipeline is a project designed for transportation of synthetic crude oil from North Alberta’s oil field in Canada, to various destinations in Texas US.

The Keystone XL extension of this pipeline was proposed in 2008. In September 2009, the hearings started, with the extension project being approved on March 11, 2010 by the Canadian National Energy Board. However, the issue became politicized and has faced several lawsuits and rigorous criticism from citizens and environmentalists groups. The development of the pipeline came to a standstill in November 2011 as an ultimate decision was postponed into 2013. The pipeline is owned by TransCanada Pipeline- a Canadian energy company.

Founded in 1951 in Calgary, the company is a leading North American energy company developing and operating energy infrastructure in North America. It has a pipeline network of approximately 59000km. TransCanada signed contracts with Bakken oil producers to carry oil from the keystone region through the keystone pipeline. This project would be operational by 2013 if the Keystone XL Pipeline received regulatory approvals. The project seeks to double the capacity of the initial keystone pipeline system by connecting it with the US gulf coast.

This will make possible the delivery of an estimated 1.1 million barrels of Canadian crude oil to the US market daily (http://stateimpact.npr.org). The proposed route would start from Hardisty, Canada and connect to the existing network in Steele city, Nebraska until Cushing, Oklahoma,