Canadian premier wants to revive Trump-backed Keystone-XL pipeline to replace Russian oil

The premier of Alberta, Canada, is calling for construction to resume on the Keystone XL pipeline backed by former President Donald Trump in order to replace Russian oil imports in North America. 

"If the United States is serious about this, they could come back and help us build Keystone XL," Premier Jason Kenney said at a press conference on Monday. "If President Biden had not vetoed that project, it would be done later this year – 840,000 barrels of democratic energy that could have displaced the 600,000 plus barrels of Russian conflict oil that’s filled with the blood of Ukrainians." 

The Obama administration in 2015 pulled support for the Keystone XL pipeline due to climate and public health concerns, but Trump revived the project in 2017 and construction started in 2020. On his first day in office, President Biden issued an executive order revoking the cross-border permit, and TC Energy abandoned the $9 billion project in June 2021.