U.S. rejects TransCanada request to suspend Keystone pipeline review

The U.S. State Department has rejected TransCanada Corp.’s request to put the government’s evaluation of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on hold.

State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington Wednesday the TransCanada was told the review process would continue.

Mark Cooper, a spokesman for TransCanada, said that the company respects the State Department’s decision.

The State Department has jurisdiction over the pipeline because it crosses a U.S. border. The proposed pipeline would carry crude oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

TransCanada asked the State Department to put its review process on hold on Monday, saying there was no need for the review to continue while it seeks approval from Nebraska authorities for the pipeline’s route through that state.

But the request was seen by most analysts as an attempt to forestall a veto of Keystone by President Barak Obama, by delaying a final decision until his successor takes office in 2017.  Most Republican presidential hopefuls have come out in support of the pipeline, while Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has urged Obama to reject the $8-billion project.

TransCanada says it will “continue to demonstrate that Keystone XL is in the national interest of the United States — just as five reports and 17,000 pages of State Department review have demonstrated over the past seven-plus years.”