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Capitol Hill opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are attacking the State Department’s finding that the proposed project will cause minimal environmental harm if managed properly.The State Department’s conclusion in an environmental analysis released Friday is a crucial step toward final federal approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.But the finding isn’t sitting well with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who called the analysis flawed, alleging the State Department failed to “adequately asses the real environmental impact.” The pipeline would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and...

The State Department today removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast in a report that says the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The thousand-page report on the proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline says no significant problems have emerged since a similar report was issued last year. Calgary-based TransCanada wants to build a massive pipeline to carry crude oil extracted from tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Texas. The pipeline, which would travel through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, would...

Enbridge enters contest to build lines from Alberta, Bakken, to Texas refineries - - - While its rival TransCanada waits anxiously for the Obama administration to decide the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline, Canada’s No. 2 pipeline company Enbridge is on the verge of offering shippers a “huge variety of delivery options,” said Chief Executive Officer Pat Daniel. Topping the list, depending on results from a current round of industry discussions, is a possible 300,000 barrel per day pipeline link from Chicago to Houston, which could come on stream by late 2013 and reduce a growing bottleneck at the...

Sixty-five arrested outside White House in oil pipeline protestBy Ben Geman - 08/20/11 02:55 PM ET Police arrested 65 environmentalists outside the White House Saturday as they staged a demonstration urging President Obama to block a proposed pipeline that would bring oil from Canada’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. The civil disobedience launched two-weeks of White House demonstrations – with more arrests to come – as activists seek to increase political pressure on Obama over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The Obama administration is weighing TransCanada Corp.’s proposed $7 billion, 1,700-mile line to bring crude from Alberta’s massive...

A controversial proposal to build a massive underground pipeline to carry 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas has become the environmental issue of the summer, pitting developers and labor unions desperate for construction jobs against environmentalists and Native American tribes who fear the pipeline will spell environmental disaster. TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Keystone XL project would consist of more than 1,700 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipe, about 327 miles of which would be in Canada while the rest would snake southward through the central United States. Because the pipeline would...

The oil industry is hoping support from organized labor — and the promise of 20,000 construction jobs — will help convince the Obama administration to sign off on a pipeline that would transport crude oil harvested in Alberta, Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. Industry leaders teamed up with organized labor today to tout the projected economic benefits of the project, which is fiercely opposed by environmental advocates. “With the U.S. economy still struggling, nothing is more important than jobs, and construction of the pipeline would mean massive numbers of them,” said American Petroleum Institute Refining Issues Manager Cindy Schild in...

There apparently is something about building pipelines that causes otherwise rational oilmen to indulge in reveries that would give an opium addict pause. Two of the most recent ideas for pipelines with a less than rational basis are Nabucco (less than 25 percent of the necessary throughput committed thus far) and the Trans-Afghanistan-India-Pakistan pipeline (running through a country wracked by 32 years of civil war), with the past decade seeing NATO fruitlessly attempting pacification. Now a third surreal energy corridor has been added, a proposed Russian-South Korean natural gas pipeline transiting Kim Jong-Il’s socialist paradise on the Yalu. What is...

Man arrested in Oklahoma pipe bomb attempt Published: Aug. 15, 2011 at 4:44 PM OKEMAH, Okla., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma man has been arrested after authorities said he called 911 and reported he put a pipe bomb on a natural gas pipeline. Daniel Wells Herriman, 40, of Konawa, was arrested Friday, the FBI said, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported. Special Agent in Charge James Finch said the bomb could have done extensive damage had it exploded on the Enerfin Resources natural gas line near Okemah. "Thank goodness Mr. Herriman is not the greatest bomb-maker," Finch said. The device,...

Oklahoma bomb teams removed what is believed to be an Improvised Explosive Device from a gas line in Okfuskee, a small town about 30 miles east of Oklahoma City, authorities said.

The House easily passed legislation today that would force the Obama administration to decide by Nov. 1 whether to approve a proposed pipeline to deliver Canadian oil sands crude to refineries in Port Arthur, Texas and southwest Louisiana. Although the measure isn’t expected to pass the Senate, supporters hope the bipartisan 279-147 vote favoring the project will send a strong signal to the Obama administration, which is on track to finish vetting TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline by year’s end. Ultimately 46 Democrats joined House Republicans in supporting the measure. Oil industry advocates and their allies in Congress complain that...

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Masked gunmen on Tuesday blew up a terminal of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in a predawn attack, security officials said. They said the attack was carried out by at least four assailants. The terminal is located at the city of El-Arish in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula some 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of the Israeli border. The attackers ordered the guards on duty to leave and then blew up the terminal, starting a huge fire that sent flames shooting up and lighting the night sky, according to the officials....

<p>With 9.1% unemployment and gasoline prices in the stratosphere, President Obama must sometimes wish that some big corporation would suddenly show up and offer a shovel-ready, multibillion-dollar project to create 100,000 jobs and reduce U.S. reliance on oil from dictatorships.</p>

Keystone-XL will rank alongside the pyramids in Giza as one of the most ambitious construction projects ever undertaken – if the $7 billion pipeline ever gets built. The proposed route runs south over 330 miles of southern Canadian soil, clipping the corner of Saskatchewan to reach the border with America, then snakes gently southeast across seven U.S. states, extending another 1,370 miles until it branches off to hit two destinations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Unidentified assailants blew up the Egyptian pipeline that carries gas to Israel and Jordan early on Monday, starting a fire and disrupting the flow of the gas, security officials said. The blast took place in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, near the Mediterranean coastal city of El-Arish, which is 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Israel's border. The Egyptian officials had no further details and there were no immediate reports of casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The blast is the third to hit the strategic pipeline...

It will likely be months before production disrupted by a damaged pipeline in Yemen can resume, says the chief executive of TransGlobe Energy Corp. The 120,000-barrel-a-day pipeline has been closed since being attacked by militants in the troubled Middle Eastern country in March. TransGlobe had about 2,400 bpd on the line from its working interest in a field operated by partner Occidental Petroleum. "We've modelled six months shut in for our operations," Ross Clarkson told reporters at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers investor symposium in Calgary on Wednesday. "The government is the one that has to go in and...

Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary said it may not be able to meet its obligations for delivering Bonny Light crude in June and July due to man-made leaks and fires on its Trans Niger Pipeline. Shell declared a force majeure on shipments of Bonny Light on Monday, saying production on the pipeline that links oil production throughout the country was disrupted repeatedly. Government and company investigators found leaks caused by hacksaw cuts last week, which have since been repaired. The pipeline was also affected by five separate fire incidents on both the 24-inch and 28-inch lines in Bodo, Bera, Biera...

(CNSNews.com) – Wanted: More domestic energy production and crude oil from Canada.That’s the gist of a new ad campaign sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, a group that represents more than 470 oil and natural gas companies.Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, says if the U.S. develops its own oil and natural gas resources and imports more oil from Canada, the country could meet 92 percent of its liquid fuels needs by 2030, compared with 62 percent today.“Let me repeat that once again for emphasis,” Gerard told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday. “The analysis...

More than 500 firefighters were tackling a 16-square-mile wildfire Sunday that was inching toward structures and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline northwest of Fairbanks. ... The north end of the fire was active and moving slowly toward the pipeline about five miles away, Buist said. Wildfires have burned across the pipeline "multiple times" in the past, he said. "The pipeline is pretty fire resistant," he said. "We have to keep the fire away from the valves."

The Transportation Department has given TransCanada Corp. permission to restart its Keystone oil pipeline, just a day after blocking resumption of operations on the line that has suffered two recent leaks.The department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in a letter Saturday, told the company that it had approved its restart plan and that the restart could commence today. “PHMSA’s decision follows a thorough evaluation of the company’s proposed plan, and safety activities required under the plan. As required by the Corrective Action Order, restart of the pipeline will be under restricted conditions and closely monitored by PHMSA,” the...

After a series of spills, the United States Department of Transportation has ordered the TransCanada Corporation to suspend operation of its one-year-old Keystone 1 pipeline, which carries oil extracted from oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta to the United States. The order was issued by the department’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.“Effective immediately, this order prevents TransCanada from restarting operations on their Keystone crude oil pipeline until P.H.M.S.A. is satisfied with the ongoing repairs and is confident that all immediate safety concerns have been addressed,” the agency said. It issued the order in response to two incidents...