The denial of presidential approval to the Keystone XL (KXL) cross-border crude oil project, which was owned and to be operated by TransCanada Corporation (NYSE:TRP) (Calgary, Alberta), has made presidential approval seem an even more formidable hurdle on the path to building international hydrocarbon transport infrastructure. However, there were multiple cross-border pipeline projects proposed during the past eight years that went ahead as planned and were successfully permitted and completed. Thus, it may be inaccurate to say that a pipeline-unfriendly president is a death sentence for cross-border pipelines. Multiple factors may have influenced the completed lines' success and KXL's failure. Notably, the length of the pipe, the product it carries and the border it crosses seem to be the main differences between the successful projects and KXL.
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