Keystone XL Is Approved, But Will Anyone Use It?

Oil producers and refineries aren’t interested in buying the Canadian oil that the Keystone XL pipeline is supposed to ship through the U.S., anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal Thursday. TransCanada, which owns the pipeline, is struggling to get enough customers for it, according to the WSJ. The company is still committed to completing Keystone XL as it should still be profitable in the long term, but it will likely take years for TransCanada to recoup its investment. Oil prices today are far lower than they were a decade ago when the pipeline was proposed. Back then, prices were above $130 a barrel, which meant that demand from oil producers and refineries for the pipeline was high. A barrel of oil today sells for about $45, largely due to the emergence of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. TransCanada has spent $3 billion to date on Keystone XL, and expects that it will eventually have to spend $8 billion constructing the pipeline...more