‘Billions lost’ from Keystone XL pipeline delay

(Weekly Standard) A new report by the American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute, details adverse economic consequences of the Keystone XL pipeline’s delay. The report highlights billions of dollars in untapped economic activity, and the over $1 trillion the U.S. has paid other countries for oil. It also details additional environmental benefits that could be provided by passing Keystone.

TransCanada, the company that would operate the pipeline, has been waiting for authorization on the project since September 2008. By breaking down crude oil prices over the past years, AAF estimates “$175 billion in economic activity has been unrealized due to the delay.” Furthermore, “at today’s price of crude at $51.76, this would gross over $42 million dollars a day or roughly $15 billion per year.”

AAF’s report also touts Keystone’s ability to decrease America’s dependence on oil from countries in the Middle East, as well as Russia and Venezuela, by increasing imports from more friendly countries like Canada. That would be particularly advantageous, as United States relations with those places have been strained. The report cites statistics from the Energy Information Agency, noting that “the U.S. imported approximately 9 million barrels per day of petroleum in 2014 from 80 countries with the bulk of its oil imports from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Russia,” and that, “since 2009, the U.S. has paid over $1 trillion to these top five countries.”

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