As Ottawa and Alberta dither, Trump embraces the oilsands with Keystone XL nod – by Claudia Cattaneo (Financial Post – January 25, 2017)

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivered on his promise to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, signing an executive order Tuesday to advance its construction and giving Canada’s battered oilsands industry his support.

“We are going to renegotiate some of the terms” of the Keystone XL project, Trump said to reporters. “And if they like (them) we will see if we can get that pipeline built – a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.”

He took the same action on the Dakota Access pipeline project, saying that it would be “subject to terms and conditions negotiated by us.” He decreed that American steel should be used for pipelines built in the United States.

Trump’s move on the proposed KXL, which would send an additional 800,000 barrels a day of Alberta oil to refineries in the U.S. Gulf, comes as governments in Ottawa and Alberta remain ambivalent about the deposits, preferring to restrain production growth by capping carbon emissions and to encourage green energy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while claiming to be a supporter of KXL, told an Ontario town hall this month that Canada should “phase out” the oilsands as part of the country’s transition away from fossil fuels. Trudeau said Tuesday that he “misspoke,” and that petrochemicals from the oilsands will continue to be valuable.

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