Keystone XL

With the proposed Canadian Keystone XL Pipeline in the midst of approval, Americans can look forward to the potential of job growth and less dependencies upon foreign imports. The project proposes a 1,179 mile, 36 inch-diameter crude oil pipe. Crude oil a petroleum product is a liquid composed of hydrocarbons, organic compounds and small amounts of metal. It is created through the heating and compression of organic materials, over a long time period. The pipeline would start in the town of Hardisty in Alberta, Canada and then would travel south to Houston and Nederland, Texas where it would be processed. There would be 329 miles of pipeline in Canada, and then another 850 miles in the U.S. The company developing the pipeline, TransCanda, has more than 50 years’ of experience. TransCanada has lead in the responsible development and reliable performance of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas, oil pipeline, power generation and gas storage. It is crucial to install the Keystone XL Pipeline because it reduces the amount of imported oil, and creates the potential for high paying American jobs.
Installing the Keystone XL Pipeline would be beneficial because it would reduce the amount of oil imported from the Middle East, Venezuela, and other unstable countries. Currently the U.S. consumes more than 15 million barrels of oil each day, eight to nine million barrels or 60% of that oil is imported from other countries. The instillation of this pipeline could displace much higher priced oil currently imported from over seas. This is backed up by the 2012 US Department of Energy study stating, “Increased Canadian oil imports will help reduce U.S. imports of foreign oil from sources outside North America.” A study done by EnSys for the Department of Energy Office of Policy and International Affairs found that, growing Canadian oil sand imports and U.S. demand reduction have potential to considerably minimize U.S. dependency on non-Canadian