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U.S. to continue review process of controversial Keystone XL pipeline

Xinhua, November 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that it will continue its review process of TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline project that would bring Canada's oil sands to refineries in the United States despite the Canadian company's request for a pause.

TransCanada, Canada's No. 2 pipeline company, has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for requesting a pause in the review process of the pipeline, but it "has not withdrawn its permit application," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at a regular press briefing.

"At this stage, we have received the letter. We will issue a response, but we're going to continue our review process," Trudeau told reporters. "We would like to finish this review process as swiftly as possible."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest also said Tuesday it would be "unusual" to suspend the years-long review process of the pipeline, and that the State Department was reviewing the Canadian company's letter to "determine exactly what the request is, and what is motivating that request."

The 8-billion-U.S. dollar Keystone XL project is proposed to go from Canada through the U.S. State of Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The project has been delayed for years as Democrats and environmental groups say it could worsen climate change by enabling further growth from the oil sands, which create higher greenhouse gas emissions than some other forms of production. But Republicans insist that it will create jobs and enhance U.S. energy security.

"I would venture to say that there's probably no infrastructure project in the history of the United States that's been as politicized as this one," Earnest said. "Maybe there were some partisan politics associated with that."

The White House said President Barack Obama is trying to "shield the actual process that will consider the merits of the project from those politics," and will make a final decision on the pipeline before he leaves office in 2017. Endit