President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive actions aimed at smoothing the way for more oil pipelines, as the White House moves to double down on fossil fuel production. Among those conversations is a proposal to permit construction on the long-defunct Keystone XL pipeline, according to multiple sources involved in the conversations.
The Trump team has been expected to reauthorize a permit for the expanded pipeline’s operation, a largely symbolic move after the Biden White House canceled it four years ago, killing the project. But beyond the permit, discussions have also included reviving its construction by rerouting the pipeline through North Dakota instead of Montana, the state it was previously slated to enter from Canada’s Alberta province.
Alberta premier Danielle Smith, who met with Trump last week at Mar-a-Lago, called it “one proposal” being discussed between the two countries.
“We want to double [Canada’s] energy production, and we want that to go to the United States,” Smith, speaking from Washington where she is slated to attend inauguration festivities, told CNN of her message to Trump. “We have 450,000 kilometres of pipeline integrated into North America.”
A representative for Interior Secretary-designate Doug Burgum — the former governor of North Dakota who is said to be supportive of such a plan — did not respond to a request for comment.
Multiple energy lobbyists, aware of the discussions, expressed skepticism that TransCanada Energy — the pipeline’s operator —– would be interested in restarting the project after terminating it when the Biden administration revoked its approvals.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, told CNN the idea is likely a pipe dream. “TransCanada has put it to bed. They’re selling off the steel. Even talking about it I think sends mixed messages to their markets,” Cramer said. “So, I think that’s off the table.”
Canadian oil already comprises more than half of the imported crude oil processed by US refiners, according to EIA data. American refineries love Canadian tar sands oil because it is heavy and gunky; the same consistency of Latin American oil that the US predominantly used to import – and which US refineries were designed to turn into gasoline.
The US produces mainly shale oil, on the other hand, which American refineries are generally not suited to refine. US oil mostly gets shipped overseas.
Canada’s thicker, more acidic oil is part of why environmental advocates so fiercely opposed the Keystone XL pipeline. Advocates argued pipeline leaks are more likely with Canadian oil, and it’s more difficult to clean out of waterways.
Keystone XL was proposed in 2008 as an extension of the existing Keystone pipeline, which currently carries anywhere from 585,000 to 643,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta’s oilfields to the US. Keystone isn’t the only pipeline bringing Canadian oil into the US; the recent expansion of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline tripled that pipeline’s capacity. Following that expansion, Canada exported a record number of barrels of oil into the US in July 2024, at 4.3 million barrels per day, according to EIA.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the amount of oil the Keystone pipeline carries daily.
