Keystone XL Pipeline Loses Support from U.S. Customer, Says Not Needed

Continental Resources, one of the companies that has committed to ship crude on TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, now says the controversial pipeline is no longer needed.

Continental has signed on to ship some 35,000 barrels of its own oil from the Bakken field of North Dakota on the 1,179-mile, $5.4-billion Keystone XL line.  But construction of the pipeline has been delayed for years as TransCanada has sought regulatory approvals, and Continental has since turned to railroads to get its crude to oil refineries.

Harold Hamm, chief executive of the independent oil producer, told Reuters that his company and the U.S. oil industry in general are no longer counting on Keystone XL.

Continental is one of a handful of U.S. producers to sign up to use the line.  Their commitments are small relative to Canadian oil sands shippers, who are counting on Keystone as a vital outlet for their crude.

Canada hopes to more than double its production of oil sands petroleum by 2030. Keystone XL would play a major role, shipping up to 830,000 barrels of petroleum daily.

Keystone XL Pipeline Loses Support from U.S. Customer, Says Not Needed