TransCanada submits new application for Keystone XL pipeline

TransCanadaCorp. said Thursday it has submitted a new presidential permit application to the U.S. Department of State for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

In a release issued after the close of stock market trading,TransCanadapresident and CEO RussGirlingsaid Keystone XL will help the U.S. meet its growing energy needs.

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The company's application comes just days after new U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive actions to move forward on construction of two controversial oil pipelines that affect Canada, giving his OK to theKeystone XL and Dakota Access projects.

"We are going to renegotiate some of the terms" Trump said Tuesday in the White House as he signed the executive order that invited TransCanada to resubmit its application for the proposed project.

Former U.S. presidentBarackObamablocked the Keystone XL project in late 2015, when he said it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centrepiece of his environmental legacy.

The proposed 1,900-kilometrepipeline would run from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb., where it would tie into other pipelines carrying crude to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

The U.S. State Department will review the application and has 60 days to issue a decision, according to published reports earlier this week.

"[Keystone Xl] will strengthen the United States' energy security andremains in the national interest," Girling said in a companyrelease.

Despite Trump's executive order, the project still faces hurdles. Some landowners in Nebraska have pursued legal and procedural avenues against it.

In its release, the company said it "committed to workingproductively with all stakeholders and tribal leaders as this
project moves forward."

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