Keystone XL is in US national interest and must be approved: oil industry

 

Keystone XL Protesters outside the White House

While the battle over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas is far from over in the public forum, with protesters on both sides of the border continuing to pressure the Obama administration into refusing to allow it, the oil industry is solidly behind the project.

The president of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack N Gerard, believes the only question to be addressed by the US Department of State in considering the pipeline's application for a permit is whether it is in the US national interest. The answer to that, he asserts, is self-evident.

“We don’t need a Super Committee. We don’t need congressional approval. We’re ready to move ahead now."

The project will create, according to Gerard and others behind the pipeline, 20,000 US jobs almost immediately and double US imports of Canadian crude oil, both desirable outcomes.

Echoing Gerard's endorsement is Terrence O'Sullivan, president of the Labourers International Union of North America, who says the project will do more than give thousands of workers jobs: "It could create a new generation of workers with specialized skills,” he said.

TransCanada has always maintained that job creation would be a major benefit of the pipeline construction and the company's president, Russ Girling, reiterated that if approved it will put 20,000 Americans to work right away. That’s 13,000 construction jobs—work for pipe-fitters, welders, electricians, heavy equipment operators, and more—and 7,000 manufacturing jobs. From the pipe being manufactured in Arkansas, pump motors made in Ohio, and transformers built in Pennsylvania, workers in almost state in the US would benefit from Keystone.”

A further 118,000 "indirect" jobs would result from the $7 billion project, according to Girling, who expressed surprise at the level of opposition and debate the project has generated.

"This is simply a pipeline from suppliers to refiners, nothing more.”