By Amanda Stephenson
April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order granting a cross-border permit to a project that would revive parts of the Keystone XL pipeline to transport Canadian crude from the U.S.-Canada border to Wyoming.
The pipeline, proposed by Canadian pipeline company South Bow and its U.S. partner Bridger Pipeline, could increase Canada’s crude exports to the U.S. by more than 12% if it goes ahead. A presidential permit was required for the project to proceed.
The new proposal involves a different route through the U.S. than the previous Keystone XL pipeline project, which was canceled by former U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021 after years of Indigenous and environmental opposition.
But it will use some of the previously built pipe on the Canadian side, where the Keystone XL line is already fully permitted. South Bow was set up by former Keystone XL proponent TC Energy in 2024 to take over its oil pipeline business.
South Bow’s U.S. partner, Bridger Pipeline, recently filed a proposal with Montana regulators that describes the construction of a 645-mile (1,038-km) pipeline – capable of transporting up to 550,000 bpd – beginning near the U.S.-Canada border in Phillips County, Montana, and transiting to Guernsey, Wyoming.
But analysts say Guernsey is not an end market for crude oil, so additional links would need to be built to transport oil to refining hubs such as Cushing, Oklahoma; Patoka, Illinois; and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
State regulatory permits will also be required for the project to go ahead.
(Reporting by Ryan Jones, Writing by Christian MartinezEditing by David Ljunggren and Edmund Klamann)
