Keystone XL pipeline vote: What's next for Canada and TransCanada?
The Senate may have just barely blocked a Keystone vote, but the issue will be back. As will other pipelines
Tonight's first order of business, a vote in the U.S. against the Keystone XL pipeline is a disappointment for Canada's TransCanada. The company is reassuring investors today it will press ahead with other projects. And for every Canadian interested in selling Canadian oil to world markets, pipelines matter.
While there are other options, Energy East, shipping oil via New Brunswick, and Northern Gateway, which would ship it west out of BC, each face hurdles and opposition. But those pipelines are fully in Canadians' hands. It's up to us now to decide what happens next.
— Amanda Lang
Keystone XL may have failed in the U.S. Senate, but it's not dead yet. Here's a look at what might happen next.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "We'll do it next year," after Republicans take control of the Senate in January. That doesn't mean Keystone XL is a done deal, though — President Obama could still veto any new bill.
As delays mount, the cost of building Keystone XL increases. TransCanada recently said the price tag has gone up 48 per cent to $8 billion, and that of course pushes up the cost of shipping oil through the completed pipeline.
Keystone XL isn't the only possible route to international markets. TransCanada has applied to build the Energy East pipeline, to export oil through Quebec and New Brunswick. Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline would strike a path for exports through Canada's west coast. And plenty of oil is still being shipped across North America by rail.