The Keystone XL pipeline developer is vowing to press on for approval of the project even if President Barack Obama ends up rejecting it.
Asked by The Hill whether a White House decision against the project would be a nail in the coffin, Russ Girling, chief executive of pipeline developer TransCanada Corp., said, "How can it be? Oil is still going to move every day, and there has got to be a way to get it there."
The proposed pipeline would carry oil from Canadian oil sands in Alberta and from North Dakota to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.
Girling hopes Obama will approve the project early next year. The president said in June that he won't allow the Keystone project to move ahead unless it's clear that the pipeline won't contribute to a boost in
greenhouse gas emissions of any "substantial" amount.
Demand for the project will continue even if Obama rejects it, Girling told The Hill. Pressure will continue to come from companies now using rail to transport oil that would prefer the pipeline, he said.
An extended review process by Obama won't dampen demand either, Girling said.
"The marketplace will react as they have over the last five years, finding alternative means to get their product to market. [Rail] is more expensive, it is more dangerous, it is less efficient . . . That is not a replacement for the right long-term solution."
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