This project is a leaner, faster, and more litigation-resistant project that reuses idle pipe, threads existing corridors, avoids reservation land, and is racing the clock to lock in steel-in-the-ground before the next Democratic administration can once again sacrifice North American energy security to green ideology.
Posted by Leslie Eastman
It’s been quite some time since we covered the Keystone XL Pipeline, a proposed extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline System designed to transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska.
The project’s goal was to expand the pipeline system’s capacity by allowing the transport of up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day over a distance of approximately 1,210 miles. The aim was to provide a more direct route for Canadian oil, and provisions were included for adding American-produced oil from the Bakken formation in Montana and North Dakota.
The last time we reported on this Keystone XL, President Donald Trump was promising to revive the project “on day one.”
Last fall, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the prospect of reviving the pipeline project during his recent White House visit with Trump.
The project has now moved another step toward starting. Trump recently signed an order granting a cross-border permit to revive parts of the Keystone XL pipeline to transport Canadian oil to Guernsey, Wyoming.
The pipeline, proposed by Canadian pipeline company South Bow (SOBO.TO), opens new tab and its U.S. partner Bridger Pipeline, could increase Canada’s crude exports to the U.S. by more than 12% if it goes ahead. A presidential permit was required for the project to proceed.
The new proposal involves a different route through the U.S. than the previous Keystone XL project, which was canceled by former President Joe Biden in 2021 after years of Indigenous and environmental opposition.
“Slightly different than the last administration,” Trump said at a White House event, referring to his administration’s attitude towards crude oil infrastructure. “They wouldn’t sign a pipeline deal, and we have pipelines going up.”
But the project will use some of the previously built pipe on the Canadian side, where Keystone XL is already fully permitted. South Bow was spun off by former Keystone XL proponent TC Energy in 2024 to take over its oil pipeline business. Approximately 150 km (93 miles) of pipe has been built in Canada and sitting idle since Keystone XL’s cancellation.
Trump has approved the Keystone Light pipeline, clearing the way for construction to start in 2027. The Canada-U.S. project could move 550,000 barrels of crude per day, with completion targeted for late 2028 or early 2029.https://t.co/sfPgNiAUcO#energy #keystone #oilandgas
— Livingston Intl. (@livingston_intl) May 8, 2026
The footprint of this pipeline is a little different than that envisioned for the Keystone XL. It appears the goal of the firms involved in this project is to complete construction before Trump’s term ends.
Sometimes called “Keystone Light,” the Bridger Pipeline Expansion would not cross any Native American reservations. More than 70% would be built within existing pipeline corridors and 80% on private land, Bridger Pipeline LLC said in a statement.
The Casper, Wyoming-based company operates more than 3,700 miles (5,950 kilometers) of gathering and transmission oil pipelines in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.
A subsidiary of True Companies, Bridger Pipeline could avoid a reversal by a future administration if it’s able to complete its project before Trump leaves office. It hopes to start construction in the fall of 2027 and finish it by late 2028 or early 2029, Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvin said.
It is being reported that oil companies have committed to move at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), or about 72 per cent of the pipeline’s initial capacity of 550,000 bpd.
Canadian oil producers are thrilled, as their ability to move product has been stifled by capacity constraints.
Rival pipeline operators are also looking to expand capacity on existing pipelines.
Last fall, Enbridge [ENB-T ] approved expansions for its Mainline and Flanagan South pipelines, which will allow an additional 150,000 bpd of Canadian heavy oil to move to the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast.
That additional capacity is expected to come online in 2027, and the company is also gauging commercial interest in a second phase of its Mainline expansion, which it has said could be in service in 2028 and would add another 250,000 bpd of capacity.
The Trans Mountain pipeline, running from Alberta to Canada’s west coast for export to the U.S. West Coast and Asia, is also planning a series of enhancements that could increase its capacity by 360,000 bpd.
The bottom line: While Keystone XL’s original vision was killed off by Biden’s climate virtue-signaling, market realities, Canadian persistence, and Trump’s energy priorities have combined to resurrect its core purpose as “Keystone Light”.
Ultimately, this project is leaner, faster, and more litigation-resistant, reusing idle pipe, threading existing corridors, avoiding reservation land, and racing the clock to lock in steel-in-the-ground before the next Democratic administration can once again sacrifice North American energy security to green ideology.
It’s about time we saw some action on this project. Thanks to unrealistic environmental and indigenous stalling tactics, both countries have been victimized by unreliable Middle Eastern producers who have caused price rises in a variety of consumer essentials. Still more pipelines are needed to increase North American energy independence, and never mind any more alarmist obstructionism when fossil fuels are almost guaranteed to dominate global energy demands until mid-century at least and probably well-beyond.
“…racing the clock to lock in steel-in-the-ground before the next Democratic administration can once again sacrifice North American energy security to green ideology.”
Assuming that the next election will be won by the donkeys, I wouldn’t put it past them now to cancel and rip apart any existing infrastructure put into place by the current administration. They’re committed to full-on sabotage of this country now.
I hope I’m right, but I think the assumption that the donkeys will win in ’28 is not a good one. No one outside California wants Newsom’s politics to go state-wide. There are rumblings that a faked-up macho Pete Buttigeig might run and Harris too. They’re gonna be up against Rubio, or Vance and Gabbard (I hope). Subtract the 10 million votes plus they won’t have through election fraud and they could get seriously wiped. As in the UK, people have started to wake up finally.
I wish.
Council elections have long been a chance for mid-term grumbling rather than a full ‘great awakening.’
Starmer is deeply unpopular – even more than Major in his day.
Labour insiders are already floating desperate ideas like parachuting Andy Burnham into a safe seat. That might buy time, but Burnham’s a hero to the party’s left, and doubling down in that direction risks steering the ship further off course.
I had hopes for KBadenoch, though her start was shaky.
Reform’s rise seems to have focused minds – she’s sounding more grounded lately.
The danger is classic right-of-centre vote splitting: traditional Tories drifting back from Reform in a general election, fragmenting the sensible vote and letting Labour, Lib Dems, or Greens sneak through.
Meanwhile, a chunk of younger voters, steeped in campus/green messaging, are drifting toward the Greens under Zack Polanski. Between the antisemitism rows and his colourful past as a hypnotherapist, he makes an easy target for critics – yet the party is still pulling in protest energy on the left.
We live in interesting times
The UK is a socialist nation still, after all.
Trump’s art of the deal. Canada’s leadership was so anti-Trump, particularly with tariffs that were imposed, no progress was going to be made on this until their oil producers (and reality) put pressure on them to come groveling. Perhaps a bit overstated, but you get the idea.
?? Anti-Trump? You mean anti-tariffs. Canadians built a good chunk of their part of the pipeline, which Bridger is now taking advantage of at cents on the dollar. Trump’s approval was highly regarded in Western Canada…last time…and this time too…on the other hand his wacky tariffs that allow US producers raise their prices by the tariff percentage, while putting once-competitive Canadian producers out of business is not so popular.
On a side note, the indigenous “protesters” just were camped out pow-wowing, doing whatever they usually do for the summer…but this time were getting paid a few bucks a day by “enviro” groups…who if you check deeper, got railroad money to fight the pipeline, because the pipeline would have hurt the rail company profitability. Followed by Biden’s cancellation with his party’s Big Rail financial support…Follow the money….
The Canadian province of Alberta is pushing the Canadian federal govt for another pipeline to the west coast. Probably Trumps’s approval is based on an attempt to make that Canadian plan NOT proceed, since it would cause Canadian oil to receive higher Asian prices than U.S. refiners would like to pay. Pipelining through the Great Plains is much less costly than through the Rocky Mountains, so the plan might work.
Be smarter and build both, there is a lot of oil in AB and SK ressources have hardly been tapped yet. Also thinking long term: “just in case” the US votes another green loon into office.
The Rocky Mountains are the smaller obstacle, the even greater are the blockheads residing in BC.
Someone will have to pay to transport the oil over the mountains to the coast. Will the Asian buyers pay? TMX had an 8x cost over run and the taxpayers will be eating tens of billion. It is not possible to recover the capital cost through fees.
Hopefully future pipelines will be built by competent operators. Not cheap in any case.
I don’t think you know much about the market in your chessboard approach to pipeline projects and capacity issues for moving Canadian crude oil. All of the projects can proceed if enough producers commit to a project and political science majors get out of the way.
Trump is building infrastructure in the US to increase the import of foreign oil instead of increasing US domestic oil production.
If oil imports into the US increase, the US trade deficit will be larger.
Why is Trump investing in increasing imports instead of increasing oil production in the US?
Is “Drill, baby, drill!” an abandoned campaign promise by Trump?
There is some good sense to eating the other kid’s chocolate bar before you eat your own.
If the cake is eaten by the current generation.
What is left for the next generation to eat?
Instead of? I don’t think that’s true. I’m not an expert on this, but my understanding is that the U.S. produces mostly light crude, but we also have a lot of refining capacity for heavy crude, like that produced by Canada and Venezuela. We need both in order to keep the refineries busy and provide the wide variety of petroleum products we use daily
The reservations that protested shouldn’t receive ANY fossil fuels or their derivatives, period. Let them go back to hunting, gathering, and murdering each other.
It would be helpful if the proposed track of the pipeline, start to finish, were illustrated with comments indicating why the proposal is an improvement.
Does anyone have a link?