API keeps up pressure on Keystone XL

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Trade group American Petroleum Institute is still touting the Keystone XL pipeline as a solution to U.S. economic woes.

When U.S. President Barack Obama secured a second term in office Nov. 6, trade group API said the first thing he should do is approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline as a 36-inch diameter crude oil pipeline that would stretch 875 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border to Steele City, Neb. Concerns about the route through a sensitive environment in Nebraska forced project company TransCanada to work with state leaders on an alternate pathway.

Obama was accused of dragging his feet on the project. Marty Durbin, executive vice president for API, said the pipeline should get approval for its economic benefits.

"We can source more of that energy from right here in North America while creating jobs and generating government revenue, approving the Keystone XL pipeline should be an easy decision," he said in a statement.

Keystone XL is designated for tar sands oil from Canada. A section of the Lakehead system that carried tar sands through Michigan burst in 2010, resulting in the costliest onshore incident in the history of the U.S. energy industry.

Groups opposed to Keystone XL have expressed concern about the long-term environmental consequences of exploiting tar sands, though API said pipelines are the safest transit option for crude oil.