U.S president Joe Biden caught oil executives by surprise as he revoked the cross-border Keystone XL pipeline permit on his first day in office. Stopping the Keystone XL project is a litmus test of climate change commitment, which Biden made during the campaign trail.
- Biden’s move brings Keystone’s fate full cycle, repeating a decision by President Barack Obama in 2015 to keep the pipeline from crossing the border, a decision reversed by Trump in 2017.
- Environmentalists have criticized the Keystone XL pipeline arguing the project provides an outlet for heavy Canadian oil sands crude that increases the carbon footprint.
- Marty Durbin, president of the chamber’s Global Energy Institute, termed Biden’s action as politically motivated even as the projects cleared countless legal and environmental hurdles.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed disappointment in Biden’s pipeline decision.
- Although oil and gas companies expected a fight with Biden, nobody expected fossil fuel to come under an immediate attack.
Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund is currently gaining. XLE is up 1.32%
