Former PHMSA chief questions need for Keystone XL

HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. crude oil production may be at a point where the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada isn't needed, a former U.S. pipeline regulator said.

President Barack Obama in February made good on his pledge to veto legislation the White House said circumvents the normal vetting procedures for the pipeline planned to cross the U.S.-Canadian border.

Cynthia Quaterman, the former administrator for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told delegates at a Houston summit sponsored by energy reporting agency Argus the Keystone XL pipeline might not fit in the U.S. oil landscape.

"With the amount of crude that's being produced in this country now, I think it's quite possible that the president might not approve the project," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen but it's quite possible."

Total crude oil production from the Lower 48 states for the week ending May 22 was 9.08 million barrels per day, a 2.4 percent increase from the previous week and 14 percent higher than the same week in 2014.

The four-week average for imports, 6.8 million bpd, was 3.4 percent below the same period in 2014, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show.

Nearly all of the Canadian oil designated for exports heads to the U.S. market. For the United States, Canadian oil represents 33 percent of all imported oil and federal data show net imports for the week ending May 22 were up 2.6 percent year-on-year.

The Republican-led Congress that took its seat in January said passing legislation to approve construction of Keystone XL, offered for U.S. federal consideration more than six years ago, was job No. 1. The pipeline has become a scapegoat for U.S. energy policies, with backers touting its energy and economic benefits, while detractors say it's too environmentally risky to support.

An executive order gives the U.S. State Department vetting power over the pipeline.