CALGARY – TransCanada Corp. says it’s evaluating ways to engage the newly elected Donald Trump administration on the potential benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Company spokesman Mark Cooper said Wednesday that TransCanada (TSX:TRP) remains fully committed to building the controversial project that U.S. President Barack Obama rejected last year.
President-elect Trump has said he is in favour of the 1,900-kilometre pipeline, and invited TransCanada to reapply for approval as part of his platform.
Last November, the Obama administration rejected Keystone XL, which would bring bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, deeming it not in the U.S. national interest.
In response, TransCanada has filed for NAFTA arbitration and is seeking $15 billion in damages, claiming the rejection was arbitrary and politically driven.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has supported the pipeline, while interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose urged Trudeau in a statement Wednesday to move quickly to push the project forward.