09.11.15. Industry bodies reacted angrily to President Obama’s decision on Friday to reject the Keystone XL pipeline project. Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute said the decision was “a clear example of politics coming before the interests of US workers and consumers”.
“It’s ironic that the administration would strike a deal to allow Iranian crude onto the global market while refusing to give our closest ally, Canada, access to US refineries,” said Gerard. “This decision will cost thousands of jobs and is an assault to American workers. It’s politics at its worst.
“Unfortunately for the majority of Americans who have said they want the jobs and economic benefits Keystone XL represents, the White House has placed political calculations above sound science. Seven years of review have determined the project is safe and environmentally sound, yet the administration has turned its back on Canada with this decision and on US energy security as well,” Gerard added.
The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), which represents large industrial energy consumers, expressed “deep disappointment” at the White House decision.
Executive VP Michael Whatley said President Obama had “thumbed his nose at more than two-thirds of Americans who support reducing energy imports from unfriendly nations”.
“This decision clearly flies in the face of scientific evidence that shows the Keystone XL pipeline would be safe, enhance environmental standards, and be a more cost-effective alternative to importing oil from overseas,” said Whatley. “It also disregards the work done by the Department of State, Department of Energy and PHMSA which have collectively concluded that Keystone XL would be the safest pipeline ever built in the United States, reduce gasoline and diesel prices and reduce carbon emissions associated moving oil into American refineries.”
Oil analysts say a major beneficiary of the decision could be Venezuela, which produces heavy crude similar to Canada’s oil sands and whose economy relies largely on shipping it to the same US Gulf coast refineries that Keystone was meant to supply.
