
Click on the image of the Keystone pipeline map for a larger view.
In September 2008,
TransCanada began the process of obtaining all the various clearances and permits to build an oil pipeline from northeastern Alberta Canada to the oil refinery region of eastern Texas in the area of Houston or Port Arthur. The Province of Alberta claims that the
oil sands contain the third largest proven crude oil reserve in the world. The Athabasca deposit in Alberta is the largest developed oil sand production site on the planet.
The Keystone Pipeline plan was developed in stages and much of the pipeline is now in operation, carrying oil to refineries in the American Mid-West. The remaining stages would build a new pipeline in a straighter course across the Great Plains and also connect the existing pipeline with new construction to the Gulf Coast.
The pipeline remains in limbo. The
U.S. State Department is the first agency to have to approve or disapprove the project and it has yet to complete its work. The project faces significant opposition from environmental groups such as the
Sierra Club and the
National Wildlife Federation.

The existing pipeline is a mix of new construction and repurposed natural gas pipeline. It is 2,147 miles in length and runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to refineries in Wood River and Patoka, Illinois. It began operation in June 2010. A second leg of 291 miles, from Nebraska to the oil storage and pipeline hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, was opened in February 2011.
The Keystone XL portion of the pipeline is estimated to cost about $7 billion. The entire system is designed to transport 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Canada to the United States. In a site published by the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the creation of up to 20,000 construction jobs and property tax revenues to state and local governments of $138.4 million are among the reasons given to approve the project.

Pipeline being lowered into a trench
Opposition is generally based on environmental grounds. The
Friends of the Earth cite the pollution created by production from tar sands, the effects on global warming, the threat of pipeline spills and the pollution created by the refining process. The new pipeline will cross several large rivers, including the Missouri, and travel through some of the United States’ most productive agricultural acreage.
Reuters reported on November 2, 2011, that President Obama had told a Nebraska media outlet that he would make the final decision on approving the pipeline. The
Washington Post, in an editorial dated October 10, supported the project while a
New York Times editorial on August 21, 2011, opposed it. In march, 2011, the Congressional Research Service produced a report titled
Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues, which covers many of the pro and con arguments in detail.