Trump Calls for Keystone XL Revival Despite Developer’s Disinterest

President Donald Trump has publicly urged the revival of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the developer, South Bow Corp., having already abandoned the project, Bloomberg reports.

“The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built – NOW!” Trump posted on his social media platform.

He promised “Easy approvals, almost immediate start!” under his administration, contrasting it with the current one. He also suggested that “another Pipeline Company” could take on the project.

The multibillion-dollar, 1,200-mile pipeline, designed to transport Canadian oil sands crude to Nebraska, became a focal point in environmental debates under former President Barack Obama, who ultimately rejected it in 2015. Since then, it has been a subject of political maneuvering.

Trump attempted to resurrect Keystone XL during his first term, but President Joe Biden revoked a crucial permit allowing the pipeline to cross the US-Canada border just hours after assuming office in January 2021.

However, South Bow Corp., the entity spun off from TC Energy Corp. which pursued Keystone XL for over a decade, has signaled a lack of interest in reviving the project. A spokeswoman stated Monday night that South Bow has “moved on from the Keystone XL project.” Parts of the existing system, spanning Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, have already been dismantled.

While Trump has already revoked the Biden administration’s executive order rescinding the pipeline permit, theoretically putting the project back in play, Canadian exporters are currently facing the possibility of new tariffs on their exports to the US, including a 10% levy on crude oil. Trump has delayed these tariffs until early March.

The president has consistently expressed his belief that the US can rely on its own oil and gas reserves, minimizing the need for resources from its North American neighbors.

These remarks represent Trump’s latest effort to breathe new life into stalled energy projects. Earlier this month, he pledged to complete the Constitution pipeline, intended to transport natural gas to New York, even though the developer abandoned the venture in 2020.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt linked the two pipelines during an interview with Fox News.

“We want the Keystone XL pipeline built,” she stated. “He wants a pipeline built in the northeast in New England, where I am from, where we have some of the highest electricity and utility rates in the country.”