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The Keystone Steele City pump station, to which the future Keystone XL pipeline is to be connected, is located in Steele City, Neb.
A US court decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline is a "frustrating setback" and underscores the need to build pipelines within Canada's borders, said Alberta's energy minister.
Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd also reiterated that Ottawa needed to raise the price of crude by rail to cope with a price differential that she described as "expensive." "Horrible right now".
Alberta's heavy oil producers are facing a significant price differential with their US counterparts of about $ 40 to $ 50 per barrel in recent weeks.
"We need to increase rail capacity," McCuaig-Boyd said at a press conference held Friday following a US federal court ruling in the state of Montana, which had blocked permission to build Keystone XL and ordered its managers to complete an environmental review.
"Although this is a temporary solution, the long-term solution is always to get access to the pipeline to help resolve the differential."
McCuaig-Boyd stated that she had not yet received a response from Ottawa regarding Alberta's rail crude proposal.
The 1,900-kilometer Keystone XL pipeline would begin in Alberta and deliver nearly 830,000 barrels of oil per day through half a dozen states to terminals on the Gulf Coast.
Ecologists and tribal groups applauded the decision of a US judge in Montana on Thursday, while President Donald Trump called it "a political decision" and "a shame".
Trump praised the $ 8 billion pipeline as part of his promise to achieve North American "energy dominance" and contrasted early approval of the project by his administration years later under President Barack Obama.
The pipeline was first proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada in 2008. It has become the backbone of a decade-long conflict between Democrats, environmental groups and Native American tribes who warn against Pollution and increased emissions of greenhouse gases encourage project jobs and potential energy production.
US District Judge Brian Morris suspended the project on Thursday night, saying the state department had not fully considered oil spill risks and other legal impacts. Federal. He ordered the department to conduct a full review. Ecologists and indigenous groups filed a lawsuit to stop the project, citing property rights and possible spills.
TransCanada stated in a news release that it was reviewing the 54-page judge's decision. "We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project," said TransCanada spokesperson Terry Cunha.
The struggle over the project lasted several presidencies and resulted in clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
After years of legal disputes, Obama rejected a permit for the pipeline in 2015. The company responded by claiming $ 15 billion in damages.
Trump has signed executive actions to advance the construction of the project in 2017.
TransCanada recently announced plans to begin construction next year, following a Morris-led State Department review, which concluded that environmental damage from a leak was unlikely and could quickly to be mitigated. Morris said the exam was inadequate.
TransCanada pledged ongoing monitoring and said the automatic shutoff valves would help officials quickly identify a leak or break.
Becky Mitchell, president of the Northern Plains Resource Council, a complainant in the case, said her organization was pleased with the decision.
"This decision sends TransCanada back to the drawing board," Mitchell said, calling the decision "the results of local democracy in action, winning for water and people".
McCuaig-Boyd, who said that Alberta did not have the capacity to appeal the court's decision, said the province had to "work within the limits of what we can control.
"We knew that there would be setbacks in this project," she said.
"This decision by a foreign court underscores once again the urgent need for Canada to build pipelines within our own borders."
She continued to extol the importance of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, which was blocked when a Canadian Federal Court of Appeal overruled the project's approval of the project. National Office of Energy and Cabinet in 2016.
Last month, Premier Rachel Notley said Alberta would let the federal process unfold as Ottawa redid consultations with Aboriginal peoples and provided a deadline until February to allow NEB to consider environmental concerns.
The United Conservative Party also criticized Friday the decision of the US court on Keystone XL.
"This decision is reminiscent of foolishness to abandon other viable pipeline projects, including Northern Gateway and Energy East," said Prasad Panda, UCP spokesperson on energy. "We can not afford to put all our eggs in one basket."
– With files from the Associated Press
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