The Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday lays the groundwork for a more favourable attitude toward pipelines, with North Dakota Senator John Hoeven pledging legislation in the first quarter to push ahead the TransCanada Corp. (T.TRP) project.
It also could set the stage for more measures to tackle the U.S. deficit, cutbacks in the Affordable Care Act and policies that weaken labour laws.
Hoeven, a former governor of North Dakota, said he sees a "good chance" of working with the president toward Keystone approval, but is willing to attach approval to other "must-pass" energy legislation to get it through the White House.
The Keystone XL pipeline, which would take oil from Alberta’s oilsands to the Gulf Coast for refining, has been stalled for six years awaiting U.S. approval. That could be good for TransCanada, which yesterday said the cost of the pipeline keeps rising and now stands at $8 billion.
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling signalled his approval of Hoeven's remarks in a statement released Tuesday morning.
"After six years, it is time to break the gridlock on Keystone and move forward," he said.
Girling said there is cross-partisan support for the project, which he said would employ 42,000 Americans, invest $2 billion in wages across the United States and injects $3.4 billion into the U.S. economy.
But Keystone isn’t the only pipeline at stake – Encana (T.ECA) and Enbridge (T.ENB) and several U.S. companies also are working on U.S. pipeline projects that could help both Bakken shale oil and oilsands oil get to market.
