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Released February 26, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--President Donald Trump has made clear his desire to revive one of the largest on-again, off-again projects in North America: the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The pipeline originally was proposed in 2008 by TC Energy Corporation (NYSE:TRP) (Calgary, Alberta) (then known as TransCanada) as an expansion of its Keystone pipeline system, that would carry 830,000 additional barrels per day (BBL/d) of crude oil from the oil sands of Alberta to join the existing Keystone system in Steele City, Nebraska, and on to Gulf Coast refineries.
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama declined to grant the northern leg of Keystone XL the right to construct and maintain the pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border. A southern portion of the proposed pipeline eventually was built, running from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, but the lack of the cross-border permit essentially blocked TC Energy from bringing additional oil further south.
When Trump began his first presidential term in 2017, one of the first actions he took was to revive the pipeline, granting the key cross-border permit and opening the door for construction of the project once again. However, landowners, environmental groups and indigenous peoples managed to keep the project stalled through Trump's first four years in office, and when Joe Biden began his term as president, he canceled the permit on his first day in office. In June 2021, TC Energy announced that it was officially abandoning plans to build the pipeline.
But Trump wants to change the project's status once again. On Monday, Trump posted on social media: "The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built -- NOW!," offering "easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!"
However, getting the project rolling again may not be as easy it seems. For one, last year TC Energy spun off its liquids pipeline business into a new company, South Bow Corporation (NYSE:SOBO) (Calgary), which has expressed little interest in reviving the project. "We've moved on from Keystone XL," South Bow's Chief Executive Officer Bevin Wirzba told Bloomberg last summer. In addition, a spokesperson for South Bow reiterated to Bloomberg Monday night that the company has moved on from the project.
Other factors hinder a quick start to pipeline. Key sections that were underway have been dismantled, and other permits necessary for construction have expired. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Pipeline Project Database can learn more by viewing the cancelled project reports involving Keystone XL.
Trump's remarks are the second time this month he has referred to restarting a cancelled energy project. On February 14, Trump vowed to restart the Constitution Pipeline, originally proposed by Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma), which would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York. The pipeline was scrapped in 2020, after years of legal wrangling, when New York blocked the project due to its potential impact on water quality. Trump said he would meet with the state governors about the project. "We are going to get this done, and once we start construction, we're looking at anywhere from nine to 12 months, if you can believe it," Trump told reporters.
However, when Williams exited the project in 2020, the company's announcement had a ring of finality to it: "The underlying risk adjusted return for this greenfield pipeline project has diminished in such a way that further development is no longer supported," the company wrote in its announcement. When Williams proposed the project in 2013, it estimated the project would cost $683 million and be ready by 2016. Prior to Williams' cancellation announcement, the company announced a $354 million impairment charge to its 2019 earnings caused by the project. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama declined to grant the northern leg of Keystone XL the right to construct and maintain the pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border. A southern portion of the proposed pipeline eventually was built, running from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, but the lack of the cross-border permit essentially blocked TC Energy from bringing additional oil further south.
When Trump began his first presidential term in 2017, one of the first actions he took was to revive the pipeline, granting the key cross-border permit and opening the door for construction of the project once again. However, landowners, environmental groups and indigenous peoples managed to keep the project stalled through Trump's first four years in office, and when Joe Biden began his term as president, he canceled the permit on his first day in office. In June 2021, TC Energy announced that it was officially abandoning plans to build the pipeline.
But Trump wants to change the project's status once again. On Monday, Trump posted on social media: "The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built -- NOW!," offering "easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!"
However, getting the project rolling again may not be as easy it seems. For one, last year TC Energy spun off its liquids pipeline business into a new company, South Bow Corporation (NYSE:SOBO) (Calgary), which has expressed little interest in reviving the project. "We've moved on from Keystone XL," South Bow's Chief Executive Officer Bevin Wirzba told Bloomberg last summer. In addition, a spokesperson for South Bow reiterated to Bloomberg Monday night that the company has moved on from the project.
Other factors hinder a quick start to pipeline. Key sections that were underway have been dismantled, and other permits necessary for construction have expired. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Pipeline Project Database can learn more by viewing the cancelled project reports involving Keystone XL.
Trump's remarks are the second time this month he has referred to restarting a cancelled energy project. On February 14, Trump vowed to restart the Constitution Pipeline, originally proposed by Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma), which would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York. The pipeline was scrapped in 2020, after years of legal wrangling, when New York blocked the project due to its potential impact on water quality. Trump said he would meet with the state governors about the project. "We are going to get this done, and once we start construction, we're looking at anywhere from nine to 12 months, if you can believe it," Trump told reporters.
However, when Williams exited the project in 2020, the company's announcement had a ring of finality to it: "The underlying risk adjusted return for this greenfield pipeline project has diminished in such a way that further development is no longer supported," the company wrote in its announcement. When Williams proposed the project in 2013, it estimated the project would cost $683 million and be ready by 2016. Prior to Williams' cancellation announcement, the company announced a $354 million impairment charge to its 2019 earnings caused by the project. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
