Released January 21, 2021 | SUGAR LAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Hours before taking the reins yesterday, President Joe Biden's office released a fact sheet outlining the planned executive orders that Biden intended to take on his first day in office. Many orders are aimed against moves made by former-President Trump during his tenure, and named specifically is a decision to axe the permit for TC Energy Corporation's (NYSE:TRP) (Calgary, Alberta) Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, planned to carry approximately 830,000 barrels per day from Alberta's oil sands to destinations in the U.S. Midwest and Nebraska, where it will join the originally constructed Keystone Pipeline to deliver oil the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Coming under the heading "Roll Back President Trump's Environmental Actions in Order to Protect Public Health and the Environment and Restore Science," Wednesday's fact sheet said that on his first day, Biden would be "Revoking, revising, or replacing additional Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations, Memoranda, and Permits signed over the past 4 years that do not serve the U.S. national interest, including revoking the Presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline."
Trump actually has issued two permits for the pipeline. Early in his presidency, in March 2017, Trump gave the initial permit for the project to carry crude oil from Canada into the U.S. The cross-border permit had originally been denied by the Obama administration in 2012 and again in 2015. After a federal judge ordered a new environmental review of the project in November 2018, Trump issued another permit for Keystone XL in March 2019, with a White House spokesman saying "that the presidential permit is indeed an exercise of presidential authority that is not subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act."
Biden's move squarely pits U.S. and Canadian interests against one another. The Alberta oil sands have lacked the needed transmission infrastructure to carry away product at their full potential, and the Keystone XL Pipeline was aimed to alleviate some of this shortfall. Knowing the project was in jeopardy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office has been in contact with the new U.S. administration regarding Keystone XL. Earlier this week, Trudeau told news media that his officials had communicated in favor of the pipeline to Biden's administration. "We are speaking with the highest level of the administration to promote our arguments in support of this project," Trudeau said, saying that he looked forward to talking with Biden about it in the coming days.
"All we ask at this point is that president-elect Biden show Canada the respect to actually sit down and hear our case about how we can be partners in prosperity, partners in combatting climate change, partners in energy security," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told news media on Monday. However, Biden's decision seems to be a done deal.
TC Energy says it will stop the project in the wake of the decision. In a press release, the company said it "will review the decision, assess its implications, and consider its options. However, as a result of the expected revocation of the Presidential Permit, advancement of the project will be suspended. The company will cease capitalizing costs, including interest during construction, effective January 20, 2021, being the date of the decision, and will evaluate the carrying value of its investment in the pipeline, net of project recoveries."
The company almost certainly will be reviewing other options to revive the pipeline. In 2016, after the Obama administration's rejection of the project, TC Energy (then named TransCanada) launched a lawsuit and multibillion-dollar North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim against the U.S. government, but the company suspended the lawsuit after Trump signed the construction permit in 2017. According to Canada's The Globe and Mail, "While the NAFTA has been replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the former agreement's Chapter 11 provisions allowing investors to sue the U.S., Canadian or Mexican governments for compensation, remain in force for three years after the July 1, 2020, termination of NAFTA. That means TC Energy could sue the U.S. government for rescinding the permit as long as it files before July 1, 2023." However, an energy law expert said a lawsuit could take years to get through, and in the end, TC Energy could have to submit a new permit.
Click here for Industrial Info's project reports on Keystone XL.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Coming under the heading "Roll Back President Trump's Environmental Actions in Order to Protect Public Health and the Environment and Restore Science," Wednesday's fact sheet said that on his first day, Biden would be "Revoking, revising, or replacing additional Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations, Memoranda, and Permits signed over the past 4 years that do not serve the U.S. national interest, including revoking the Presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline."
Trump actually has issued two permits for the pipeline. Early in his presidency, in March 2017, Trump gave the initial permit for the project to carry crude oil from Canada into the U.S. The cross-border permit had originally been denied by the Obama administration in 2012 and again in 2015. After a federal judge ordered a new environmental review of the project in November 2018, Trump issued another permit for Keystone XL in March 2019, with a White House spokesman saying "that the presidential permit is indeed an exercise of presidential authority that is not subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act."
Biden's move squarely pits U.S. and Canadian interests against one another. The Alberta oil sands have lacked the needed transmission infrastructure to carry away product at their full potential, and the Keystone XL Pipeline was aimed to alleviate some of this shortfall. Knowing the project was in jeopardy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office has been in contact with the new U.S. administration regarding Keystone XL. Earlier this week, Trudeau told news media that his officials had communicated in favor of the pipeline to Biden's administration. "We are speaking with the highest level of the administration to promote our arguments in support of this project," Trudeau said, saying that he looked forward to talking with Biden about it in the coming days.
"All we ask at this point is that president-elect Biden show Canada the respect to actually sit down and hear our case about how we can be partners in prosperity, partners in combatting climate change, partners in energy security," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told news media on Monday. However, Biden's decision seems to be a done deal.
TC Energy says it will stop the project in the wake of the decision. In a press release, the company said it "will review the decision, assess its implications, and consider its options. However, as a result of the expected revocation of the Presidential Permit, advancement of the project will be suspended. The company will cease capitalizing costs, including interest during construction, effective January 20, 2021, being the date of the decision, and will evaluate the carrying value of its investment in the pipeline, net of project recoveries."
The company almost certainly will be reviewing other options to revive the pipeline. In 2016, after the Obama administration's rejection of the project, TC Energy (then named TransCanada) launched a lawsuit and multibillion-dollar North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim against the U.S. government, but the company suspended the lawsuit after Trump signed the construction permit in 2017. According to Canada's The Globe and Mail, "While the NAFTA has been replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the former agreement's Chapter 11 provisions allowing investors to sue the U.S., Canadian or Mexican governments for compensation, remain in force for three years after the July 1, 2020, termination of NAFTA. That means TC Energy could sue the U.S. government for rescinding the permit as long as it files before July 1, 2023." However, an energy law expert said a lawsuit could take years to get through, and in the end, TC Energy could have to submit a new permit.
Click here for Industrial Info's project reports on Keystone XL.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
