Work stops on Keystone pipeline on Biden’s 1st day

The Canadian company TORONTO — behind the Keystone XL oil pipeline said Wednesday it has suspended work in anticipation of President Joe Biden revoking its permit.

Biden’s Day One plans included revoking a presidential permit for the pipeline. The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

“TC Energy will review the decision, assess its implications, and consider its options. However, as a result of the expected revocation of the Presidential Permit, advancement of the project will be suspended,” the Calgary, Alberta-based company.

The pipeline, proposed in 2008, has become emblematic of the tensions between economic development and curbing the fossil fuel emissions that are causing climate change. The Obama administration rejected it, but former President Donald Trump revived it.

Canadian officials tried to make the case for the pipeline to the Biden administration. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised Keystone XL as a top priority when he spoke with Biden in November. The project is meant to expand critical oil exports for Canada, which has the world’s third-largest oil reserves.

Jason Kenney, premier of the oilrich province of Alberta, said he urged Trudeau to tell Biden that “rescinding the Keystone XL border crossing permit would damage the Canada-US bilateral relationship.”

Trudeau and Biden are politically aligned, and there are expectations for a return to normal relations after Trump, but the pipeline is an early irritant as Biden has long said he would cancel it.