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TransCanada
submitted a notice for an arbitration claim in January and had
then tried to negotiate with the U.S. government to "reach an
amicable settlement," the company said in files posted on the
pipeline's website.
"Unfortunately, the parties were unable to settle the dispute."
TransCanada said it then filed its formal arbitration request
under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provisions,
seeking to recover what it says are costs and damages.
The Keystone XL was designed to link existing pipeline networks
in Canada and the United States to bring crude from Alberta and
North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf
of Mexico coast.
Obama rejected the cross-border crude oil pipeline last
November, seven years after it was first proposed, saying it
would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the U.S.
economy.
TransCanada is suing the United States in federal court in a
separate legal action, seeking to reverse the pipeline's
rejection.
NAFTA, whose arbitration provisions allow companies to challenge
governments before international panels, has been a target of
recent anti-free-trade sentiments in the United States.
The heads of NAFTA members, Canada, the United States and
Mexico, are expected to meet in Ottawa for a North American
leaders' Summit on June 29.
Canada was supposed to host the meeting early last year but
canceled it amid tension between then Prime Minister Stephen
Harper and Obama over the Keystone XL pipeline.
TransCanada and the U.S. Department of Energy did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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