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Montana governor pushing Keystone XL pipeline
News Articles | Lincoln Journal Star | August 18, 2010
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HELENA, Mont. — Montana oil companies have a better shot at putting their oil in a proposed pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, under a state regulatory ruling.
TransCanada Corp., seeking multistate approval for the 1,980-mile Keystone XL pipeline, has faced political pressure to let Montana and North Dakota crude oil into the pipeline and has said it is considering the plan.
Some Nebraskans are resisting the route of the pipeline because it would pass over part of the Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer.
Because the pipeline originates in Canada and would move oil to the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. State Department has the power to approve or deny TransCanada’s application to build the pipeline.
In a recent ruling, the Montana Public Service Commission decided it can intervene in connection disputes. If a Montana oil company doesn’t feel like it is getting a fair shot at hooking into the pipeline, it can take a case to the commission.
TransCanada, in a statement, took no dispute with the ruling or Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s statement that it gives Montana more leverage.
Company spokesman James Millar said TransCanada is “very excited with the prospects now of moving Montana and North Dakota oil to markets.”
Montana oil producers who don’t have access to a pipeline have to pay as much as $15 to $30 a barrel to ship it by rail, Schweitzer said. A pipeline is a much cheaper way to move crude and would make Montana oil more competitive, he said.
Schweitzer said TransCanada has told him it will let Montana oil onto the line, but the PSC ruling means Montana has a way to make sure that happens.
“I would say in this case we will trust and we will verify by regulatory authority,” the governor said in an interview. “It is another good day for Montana oil production.”
PSC chairman Greg Jergeson said TransCanada agreed to common carrier status because it sought benefits that go along with it, such as the use of public rights of way.
Schweitzer said he supports the pipeline, which has run into increasing criticism from environmentalists who argue using crude oil from the Alberta tar sands would increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Schweitzer said the pipeline could bring in as much as 5 percent of the country’s oil supply.
“It decreases our dependence on these petro-dictators around the world, and that’s good,” Schweitzer said.
Tagged with: keystone xl, transcanada, montana, brian schweitzer, public service commission
