The report’s conclusions are consistent with results contained in scientific analysis in four previous environmental reviews of Keystone XL dating back to the spring of 2010.
“The environmental analysis of Keystone XL released today once again supports the science that this pipeline would have minimal impact on the environment,” said TransCanada President and CEO Russ Girling.
Mr Girling said that according to the US Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency, the United States will continue to require millions of barrels of oil to be imported every day for decades to meet its own needs.
“It just makes sense for more of that supply to come from right here in North America. Let’s get this done – it’s time to bring over five years of regulatory review to an end and build this critical new piece of North American energy infrastructure,” he said.
The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement draws the following key conclusions:
- Keystone XL is “unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States based on expected oil prices, oil-sands supply costs, transports costs and supply-demand scenarios”.
- Rail – along with ocean tanker and other pipeline alternatives – exist to transport crude oil from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and Bakken region to Gulf Coast refineries. All other alternatives to Keystone XL are less efficient methods of transporting crude oil, resulting in significantly more greenhouse gas emissions, oil spills and risks to public safety.
- The incorporation of 59 special conditions and dozens of other extra spill prevention and mitigation measures will ensure that Keystone XL will “have a degree of safety over any other typically constructed domestic oil pipeline system under current code”.
- Keystone XL will support approximately 42,100 direct, indirect and induced jobs and approximately $US2 billion in earnings throughout the US. It would contribute approximately $US3.4 billion to US gross domestic product and provide a substantial increase in tax revenues for local counties along the pipeline route, with 17 of 27 counties expected to see tax revenues increase by 10 per cent or more.
Keystone XL is currently the largest infrastructure project on the books in the US.
Girling said the primary focus for TransCanada will be ensuring the pipeline is one of the safest and most technologically advanced pipelines in North America.
“No other company has agreed to operate with all of the additional safety and operating procedures that TransCanada has,” he said.
“That speaks volumes to our commitment to minimising the impact of our pipeline, and ultimately to the environment and communities it will operate through.”
TransCanada’s existing Keystone Pipeline has safely and reliably delivered more than 550 MMbbl of crude oil from Canada to refinery markets in the US Midwest since it began operation in July 2010.