API To White House: Approve The Entire Keystone XL Pipeline

The American Petroleum Institute recently called on President Obama to immediately approve the entire Keystone XL project to bring more secure and reliable oil from Canada to the United States and help American consumers at the pump.

"We are encouraged to see the president speed up approval of the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline," said API Executive Vice President Marty Durbin. "We now hope he will speed up the approval of the entire pipeline. The benefits of this project are just as real today as they were when the State Department finished its comprehensive, three-year review last fall. Approving the full project could help put downward pressure on prices at the pump by sending a strong signal to the markets that more supply is on the way, and it will create tens of thousands of jobs for the safest, most highly trained and productive workforce in the world.

"Supply matters when it comes to the price of gasoline," said Durbin. "Keystone XL would bring up to 830,000 additional barrels of oil to the market every day. Markets are moved by expectation. In addition, the pipeline will provide a critical outlet for domestic Bakken crude to reach markets, resulting in even more benefit to consumers. Instead of asking other countries to produce more, let's invest in North American oil that will also put thousands of Americans to work."

The Keystone XL pipeline has been thoroughly reviewed for more than three years and has strong support from labor and growing group of bipartisan members in Congress who see the benefits of getting more energy from Canada.

"We hope President Obama will join the growing chorus of support for the full Keystone XL project," said Durbin. "Recently, former President Clinton said we should ‘embrace' Keystone and we believe there is no better time to do that then right now. President Obama needs to reassure Americans gearing up for summer road trips that he is serious about bringing relief to Americans at the pump."

API represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86M a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.

SOURCE: The American Petroleum Institute