Keystone XL pipeline project in doubt after builder asks U.S. to suspend permit

The future of the Keystone XL oil pipeline is in doubt after the company proposing the project, TransCanada, asked the Obama administration Monday to indefinitely halt its ongoing review process. The development is the latest in a long series of delays for Keystone and could push ultimate approval or rejection of the project until after President Obama leaves office. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the Alberta-based company says new questions about the pipeline’s route through Nebraska must be resolved before the administration can finally finish its work. The delay, TransCanada said, will let Nebraska state regulators conduct a full review of the pipeline’s proposed course. “In order to allow time for certainty regarding the Nebraska route, TransCanada requests that the State Department pause in its review of the presidential permit application for Keystone XL,” said Kristine Delkus, TransCanada’s executive vice president of stakeholder relations and general counsel, in the letter to Mr. Kerry. “This will allow a decision on the permit to be made later based on certainty with respect to the route of the pipeline,” she said...more