As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to revitalize the nation's energy sector, he's also planning to bring back a familiar and controversial name: the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Trump is reportedly looking to revive the Keystone XL project on his first day in office, after President Joe Biden canceled it upon taking office in 2021.
"Reviving" the project, which was intended to carry crude oil from Canada down to Texas, won't mean actual pipeline construction or oil flowing anytime soon, if ever. The Canadian company behind Keystone XL abandoned the project and sold off the land after Biden canceled the permit, so any company that wanted to build it would essentially have to start over. That means Trump green-lighting the project may only be a symbolic move. "It may mean something that if there's still a permit (for Keystone) out there that can be issued, to go ahead and do it," says Karr Ingham, President of the Alliance of Texas Energy Producers. "Just to signal that that process (of permitting oil projects) is going to change come January 20th, and I believe that will be the case."
Ingham tells KTRH even if this particular project doesn't come back, there will be others to come with Trump back in charge. "I don't know whether the Keystone XL pipeline has anywhere to go...it doesn't appear to as we sit here right now," he says. "But (Trump) sending that strong signal to future investors in these kinds of projects that we're open for business once again, I think is very valuable."