Canada-based firm TransCanada has been denied permission for its proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline by the US federal government.
The administration has rejected the proposal indicating that it did not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest.
The project aims to build a 1,700-mile pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to refineries in Texas, US, carrying heavy crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries.
The pipeline project would transport 700,000 barrels of crude per day to refineries on the US Gulf of Mexico coast from oil sands of Alberta, crossing six states.
TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer Russ Girling said that TransCanada remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL.
"Plans are already underway on a number of fronts to largely maintain the construction schedule of the project," said Girling.
The company said it plans to reapply for the permit and expects it to be processed for an in-service date of late 2014.
TransCanada said it will work with Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality on determine the safest route for Keystone XL that avoids the Sandhills. Work on the process is expected to be complete in September or October of this year.
The decision to reject the current pipeline plan has been welcomed by environmentalist, saying that the pipeline would have worsened climate change, affected organised labour and endangered drinking water supplies in Nebraska.
