The Keystone pipeline project transports oil from Canada to refineries in Illinois and Texas via eight U.S. states. Completed in 2014, a shortcut known as the Keystone XL was approved by Congress the next year, but vetoed by President Barack Obama.
The debate continues to rage. Here are eight quotes from oil company executives, who stand to benefit from the pipeline's construction:
1. "Anything could happen, we don't know, but we remain confident that when Keystone is ultimately built, it will be the safest pipeline that has ever been constructed in this country." — Andrew Craig, TransCanada's land manager for
Keystone projects and development, told NBC News.
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2. "As Canadians we have an opportunity to capture market. My experience is, if you don't capture market, somebody else will. —
Russ Girling, CEO TransCanada Corp, told thestar.com, in January 2014.
In the same story, Girling cited the six-year delay in approval for the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which was eventually scrapped amid falling natural gas prices.
"This is exactly the same thing. When markets come up, you have to take advantage of them. If you miss an opportunity, you may lose it for decades and decades to come."
3. "The need for Keystone XL continues to grow stronger as North American oil production increases, and having the right infrastructure in place is critical to meet the goal of reducing dependence on foreign oil. Keystone XL is the most studied cross-border pipeline ever proposed, and it remains in America's national interests to approve a pipeline that will have a minimal impact on the environment." — Girling, in January 2013,
according to The Huffington Post.
4. Canadian oil company Cenovus has numerous refineries in the U.S. and Canada, including Illinois, Texas and Edmonton. CEO Brian Ferguson feels that opportunities like this Keystone XL are fleeting.
"Asia will figure out other sources to get supply from if they can't get it from Canada." — Ferguson told a meeting of the Canadian Club, on Jan. 15, 2015,
according to thestar.com
5. "It was a matter of putting politics before our already rigorous regulatory permitting process. There are hundreds of thousands of miles of pipeline across the country that have a record of being safe and sound." — ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, at the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, on April 18, 2013,
according to The Dallas Morning News.
6. "I'm very keen on making sure we do the right thing for the environment. We preserve it. We make sure we don't do something that upsets the world, but Keystone would be good for the environment ... People's ingenuity finds ways of getting oil where it needs to go. Getting a simple pipeline, which works safely and securely and doesn't require lots of movements of different vehicles ... that will be very good for the environment." — Former British Petroleum CEO John Browne, who ran BP from 1995-2007. During that time, Browne called for the oil industry to fight
climate change, according to Yahoo Finance.
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7. In May 2014, incoming Valero CEO Joe Gorder told San Antonio,
Texas-based radio station WOAI 1200 that he felt the recent derailments and explosions of oil carrying rail cars would be enough to convince environmentalists that pipelines are the safest way to move oil.
"I would like to think that they would realize this, that pipeline safety is much safer than other type of movements, quite frankly," Gorder said. "You even try to move barrels on the water you have the risk of skills, while pipelines are proven very safe."
8.In an April 2013 interview with Canadian Business, Shell Oil President Marvin Odum was asked if his confidence remained high regarding passage of the Keystone XL:
"It's already been slower than I expected, so I need to start with that point, but my confidence is still high that it's going to ultimately be approved," he said. Now, I don’t know exactly what the terms will be on the approval. But I think the assurances that have been added around safety performance and so forth are important, and I think now that the routing of the line is being finalized, my expectation is it will be approved."
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