Reviving the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. could play a part in tightening U.S.-Canada energy cooperation, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday.
Carney raised the idea during a Tuesday meeting in the Oval Office with U.S. President Donald Trump on defusing trade tensions, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
“We are looking for areas where the integration of our economies will be better for us both. We have opportunities in the energy sector – there are many possible projects, including Keystone XL, but there are others,” he told a press conference.
The proposed pipeline was rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration and revived by Trump during his first term. U.S. President Joe Biden revoked a key permit in 2021 and there is currently no proponent for the pipeline.
Reviving Keystone XL could help improve Carney’s relations with the oil-producing province of Alberta, which says Ottawa is strangling the energy industry with such measures as a west coast tanker ban and a proposed cap on emissions.
Asked whether Ottawa could scrap those measures, Carney replied: “It depends”.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Mark Porter and Bill Berkrot)