Congressional Republicans have once again taken to legislation in an attempt to secure approval for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, according to Reuters.
President Barack Obama denied the proposal to link oil sands producers in central Canada the the network of oil pipelines that feed the Gulf Coast after Republicans passed a bill requiring the decision to be made by mid-February.
However, legislators hoped to revive the plan by moving approval of the plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission along with a similar deadline, assuming that the independent agency would choose to support the project.
The current plan has passed one hurdle, moving from the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the full House on a vote of 33 to 20, but several more serious roadblocks remain. The proposal must pass the full House and then go through the Democrat-controlled Senate, a daunting prospect that has not yet even been begun.
Bloomberg reports that Republicans simultaneously defeated proposals that would have restricted TransCanada, the pipeline’s owner, from exporting much of the oil it transported or from using eminent domain during construction.
Prospects for the U.S. oil pipeline industry can be found at PennEnergy’s Research area.
