Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 16

NorthAmOil
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
NorthAmOil
Another setback for Keystone XL as permit revoked
NORTH AMERICA
THE long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline has suf- fered another setback with the cancellation of a permit less than three weeks after operator TC Energy announced that it would proceed with the project’s construction.
On April 15, US District Judge Brian Morris in Montana ruled against the US Army Corps of Engineers’ use of Nationwide Permit 12, which allows energy pipelines to cross bodies of water across the country. Morris said the Corps had failed to adequately consider the impact on endangered species such as pallid sturgeon, which live in the rivers the pipeline would cross.
Construction on the pipeline has already begun in Montana, at Keystone XL’s Canada-US border crossing. Lawyers involved in the case were cited by the Associated Press as saying the ruling does not shut down this work. Nonethe- less, the ruling effectively halts construction along much of Keystone XL’s route through the US, and the Corps will need to comply before the permit can be applied to the project again.
There is also a threat of further legal hur- dles holding up the pipeline. On April 16, a day after his ruling on Nationwide Permit 12, Morris heard a case seeking to halt construc- tion at the border. This comes as a further law- suit challenging US President Donald Trump’s approval to build the US segment of the pipeline is working its way through the courts, with the pipeline’s opponents hoping to derail the project altogether.
Morris heard arguments from indigenous and environmental groups, who are now cit- ing concerns about workers spreading the
coronavirus (COVID-19) as well as their long- held worries about the pipeline’s environmental impact. The judge did not immediately issue a ruling following this hearing.
The concerns over COVID-19 have become particularly pressing, as a number of workers have been diagnosed with the virus at energy project sites across North America. For example, as of April 21, 23 cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the Kearl oil sands project in Alberta, with the majority having tested positive for the disease after they had left the site.
TC Energy has said it is reviewing its 11 Key- stone XL work camps – some of which were originally intended to house up to 1,000 workers – in light of health risks posed by COVID-19. Construction on the pipeline had been antici- pated to ramp up significantly this summer, but TC Energy’s plans look increasingly likely to be delayed depending on how the response to the virus evolves in the coming weeks.
TC Energy has reiterated its commitment to building Keystone XL despite the latest court rul- ing. The project is viewed as critical to the future of Alberta’s oil sands, where a lack of new takea- way capacity has been constraining growth and pushing down regional crude prices.
Indeed, the Alberta government recently announced it would invest $1.1bn in the pipeline as equity, as well as providing a loan guarantee to help finance construction. The province’s sup- port enabled TC Energy to give the go-ahead to construction on the pipeline, which will carry up to 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from the oil sands to US markets.™
Construction on the pipeline has already begun in Montana, at Keystone XL’s Canada- US border crossing.
The ruling effectively halts construction along much of Keystone XL’s route through the US.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 16 23•April•2020