TransCanada boasts of benefits of North American pipelines

CALGARY, Alberta, July 20 (UPI) -- The shipment of the 1 billionth barrel of oil through the Keystone oil pipeline system shows commitment to U.S. energy security, TransCanada said.

The Canadian pipeline company said the pipeline system has brought in close to $200 million in taxes and generated more than 14,000 construction jobs since it was commissioned in 2010.

"These one billion barrels of oil have helped to fuel North American energy independence and the U.S. economic recovery, which has seen a dramatic rise in the number of oil and gas jobs as well as an increase in supply through a mix of Canadian imported and domestic production," TransCanada President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said in a statement.

The Keystone pipeline system stretches from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas and is one of the largest networks of its kind in North America.

TransCanada aims to expand the network with Keystone XL, a pipeline that would move south from Alberta through northern U.S. Plains states to Oklahoma. To build Keystone XL across the U.S.-Canadian border, the company needs a permit from the U.S. State Department, which it applied for more than six years ago.

"Identical to Keystone, Keystone XL will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve public safety by transporting crude oil via pipeline versus rail," Girling said in a statement. "Keystone XL will also create tens of thousands of jobs, and oil imported from Venezuela and the Middle East would be replaced with American and Canadian oil."

The Republican-led Congress that took its seat in January said passing legislation to approve construction of Keystone XL 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.

TransCanada in early July said it was able to contract more volume for the existing Keystone network because of operational efficiencies. A spokesman for the company said the call for more shipments through the Keystone network was not a reflection of the debate over Keystone XL.