WASHINGTON, November 30, 2011 - The American Petroleum Institute expressed support today for the North American Energy Security Act to increase U.S. investments in Canadian oil sands by expediting the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
"Delaying Keystone XL is denying thousands of Americans good paying jobs," said Marty Durbin API executive vice president. "We need to do what we can to address high unemployment and strengthen our nation's energy security. Keystone XL is capable of doing both. The project will immediately create 20,000 American jobs and enhance our energy security because we will be getting more oil from our number one supplier of imported oil, Canada.
"We applaud Senator Lugar's efforts to move forward a job creating project that has already undergone an extensive environmental review. This bill would enable the permitting process to proceed while efforts continue to resolve concerns related to one isolated area in Nebraska," said Durbin. "The process has dragged on for more than three years and the latest decision by the president will add at least another year of delay. This shovel ready project should not be shelved for political purposes. President Obama should approve it and make it part of his jobs program because, as he has said, 'we can't wait'."
API expressed support for Lugar's framework to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The legislation would require the Secretary of State to issue a permit for the project within 60 days, establish a mechanism protecting the State of Nebraska's ability to shift the route of the pipeline to avoid the Sand Hills while not holding up construction elsewhere, and conclude more than three years of federal review by deeming the Final Environmental Impact Statement to be adequate.
API represents more than 490 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.