Trump says he wants Keystone XL Pipeline to be built (updated)

South Bow

25/02/2025 02:05

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      Trump pledges easy approval for Keystone XL pipeline
    

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      Pipeline faced legal challenges from environmentalists and
Native American tribes  
    

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      TC Energy spun off oil pipeline business into South Bow
Energy
    

  
 (Updates throughout with quotes from Trump, background of
pipeline)
    By Kanishka Singh
       WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President
Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted the Keystone XL Pipeline
built and pledged easy regulatory approvals for the project,
which was opposed for years by environmentalists before its
permit was revoked by the Biden administration.
    The pipeline was first proposed in 2008 to bring oil from
Canada's Western tar sands to U.S. refiners and was halted in
2021 by then-owner TC Energy Corp  TRP.TO  after former
Democratic President Joe Biden revoked a key permit needed for a
U.S. stretch of the project.
    In a social media post on Monday, Trump urged the company
that was building the pipeline to "come back to America," saying
his administration would offer easy approvals and an almost
immediate start.
    "The Trump Administration is very different (from the Biden
administration) - Easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not
them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL
Pipeline built," Trump said in the post.
    Trump's post did not name a company and only referred to the
one that was building the pipeline earlier.
    TC Energy spun off its oil pipeline business in October last
year into a new company named South Bow Energy  SOBO.TO .
    Opponents of that pipeline had fought its construction for
years, saying it was unnecessary and would hamper the U.S.
transition to cleaner fuels.
    The Keystone XL pipeline was expected to carry 830,000
barrels per day of Alberta oil sands crude to Nebraska, but the
project was delayed due to opposition from U.S. landowners,
Native American tribes and environmentalists.
    Trump had approved a permit for the line in 2017, but it
continued to face legal challenges that hampered construction.
Biden had committed to canceling the project during his 2020
campaign and revoked the permit soon after taking office in
2021.

 (Reporting by Kanishka Singh;
Editing by Sandra Maler)
 ((Kanishka.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; +12024508248;))