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U.S.
President Donald Trump will announce the permit alongside
TransCanada <TRP.TO> Chief Executive Officer Russell Girling at
the White House later Friday, according to a senior
administration official. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said
a Keystone XL announcement would come at 10:15 a.m. EDT.
TransCanada's U.S.-listed shares jumped 3.7 percent to $49.50 in
premarket trading.
The pipeline linking Canadian oil sands to U.S. refiners had
been blocked for years by former President Barack Obama, who
said it would do nothing to reduce fuel prices for U.S.
motorists and contribute to emissions linked to global warming.
Environmental groups have forcefully opposed the pipeline.
Trump, however, campaigned on a promise to approve it, saying it
would create thousands of jobs and help the oil industry, and
signed an executive order soon after taking office in January to
advance the project.
The multibillion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline would bring more
than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada's oil
sands in Alberta into Nebraska, linking to an existing pipeline
network feeding U.S. refineries and ports along the Gulf of
Mexico.
Approvals are still needed from state regulators, and the
pipeline could face legal challenges.
Expedited approval of projects is part of Trump's approach to a
10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure package he promised on the
campaign trail. The White House is looking for ways to speed up
approvals and permits for other infrastructure projects, which
can sometimes take years to go through a regulatory maze.
"It does fit into the overall strategy the president has for
infrastructure," the administration official said. The official,
who asked not to be identified, added that Sean McGarvey,
president of North America's Building Trades Unions, was also
expected to be present at the announcement.
Conservatives have said they support quick approval. Nick Loris,
an energy and environmental researcher at the Heritage
Foundation, said on Thursday that approval would "re-establish
some certainty and sanity to a permitting process that was
hijacked by political pandering."
Environmental groups that have opposed the pipeline say they
will continue the fight with petitions, political pressure and
mass protests.
(Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Additional reporting by
Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and
Jeffrey Benkoe)
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