Work on Keystone XL pipeline suspended

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

Biden’s plans included moving to revoke 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 said in a statement.

First proposed in 2008, the pipeline 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 President Donald Trump revived it and has been a strong supporter. Construction already started.

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 a phone call in November. The project is meant to expand critical oil exports for Canada, which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world.

Trudeau has tried to balance the oil industry’s desire for more pipelines with environmentalists’ concerns.

He canceled one major pipeline to the Pacific coast from oil-rich Alberta, but approved another and instituted a national carbon tax.