TransCanada CEO vows to ‘diligently’ work on permit application for Keystone XL

The CEO of TransCanada (Pictured) says the company will work “diligently” to complete an application for a presidential permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would support its construction. (Photo: TransCanada Centre/ Facebook)

CALGARY –The CEO of TransCanada says the company will work “diligently” to complete an application for a presidential permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would support its construction.

In his first remarks since Trump’s endorsement, Russ Girling says he believes the project makes “imminent sense” for both Canada and the United States. Girling was speaking Wednesday at a CIBC investor conference in Whistler, B.C.

The $8-billion project would move crude oil from Alberta to Steele City, Neb., where it would link with other lines leading to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Trump endorsed the project on Tuesday and directed the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application.

Former president Barack Obama rejected Keystone XL in late 2015, seven years after its initial application, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centrepiece of his environmental agenda.

TransCanada still faces bitter opposition from environmentalists, landowners and native Americans who are determined to block Keystone XL.