TransCanada denies politics at play in request to suspend Keystone XL review

CALGARY – The company behind the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline denies the 2016 U.S. presidential election was a factor when it asked for the review of the project to be suspended.

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling says the company has tried to stay out of politics throughout the more than seven years that the project has been winding its way through the regulatory process.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made it known he’s not a fan of the cross-border crude pipeline, expressing skepticism over its economic benefits and concern over its contribution to climate change.

If the U.S. State Department process is suspended for long enough, a more pipeline-friendly Republican may be in the White House by the time the review is complete.

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But Girling says that wasn’t part of the calculus in asking the State Department to hit pause while a separate regulatory process in Nebraska over the pipeline’s route is worked out.

A spokesman for Obama says the administration is still evaluating TransCanada’s request.

Josh Earnest says the answer will come from the State Department, which is leading the review into the pipeline that would carry almost one-quarter of Canada’s oil exports.

READ MORE: TransCanada asks U.S. government to pause Keystone XL pipeline process

Earnest did, however, characterize the request as peculiar.

“It seems unusual to me to suggest that somehow it should be paused yet again,” he said.

“But this is something the State Department is still considering. When the administration has a reaction to the letter they’ll be the ones to announce it.”

As for whether a decision will occur before Obama leaves office in January 2017, he said: “That continues to be the current plan even as we evaluate their request and consider the reasoning behind it.”

Girling says the request was the right thing to do to ensure any changes that are made to the pipeline’s route are incorporated into a final decision in Washington.