The fundamental question over the Keystone XL debate is whether to use domestic oil or oil imported from Venezuela or the Middle East, TransCanada said.

TransCanada asked the U.S. State Department to pause the review process for the Keystone XL pipeline while it waits for route decisions from Nebreaska's government. The State Department refused the request.

Mark Cooper, a spokesman for the company, said in an emailed statement TransCanada would continue to focus on building the pipeline.

"The fundamental question remains: Do Americans want to continue to import millions of barrels of oil every day from the Middle East and Venezuela or do they want to get their oil from North Dakota and Canada through Keystone XL?" he said. "We believe the answer is clear and the choice is Keystone XL."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports Canada is by far the largest exporter of crude oil to the United States, sending about 2.7 million barrels of crude oil per day to the U.S. market on average for the week ending Oct. 30. The No. 2 exporter, Saudi Arabia, sent about 865,000 bpd to the United States for the week. Venezuela, the No. 4 exporter, sent about 595,000 bpd to the United States.

Compared with last year, Saudi and Venezuelan crude oil exports are down 27 percent and 39 percent, respectively. Only Iraq and Ecuador sent more crude oil to the United States for the week ending Oct. 30 when compared with last year.

The White House said this week the debate over Keystone XL, a scapegoat for questions over North American energy policies, would be based on the merits of the project and not political platforms.

"We believe that respecting the [review] process is, in fact, the way to eventually get at a decision that best supports our national interests here in the United States," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The U.S. Congress has tried several legislative efforts to force President Barak Obama's hand on the pipeline, moves the administration said would be met with a veto. The White House said a final decision was expected during the Obama presidency.

TransCanada nixes plans for Quebec oil terminal
Montreal (AFP) Nov 5, 2015 –

TransCanada announced Thursday it was cancelling plans to build an oil terminal in Quebec that was to be used to ship crude oil from western Canada to overseas markets.

In response to public outrage over the project that would have put endangered beluga whales at further risk in the Saint Lawrence River, company spokesman Tim Duboyce told public broadcaster Radio-Canada it was moving the terminal to Saint John, New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy.

In a statement TransCanada said it had listened to "local communities, key stakeholders and its customers" in coming to the decision.

"The company will be amending the Energy East (pipeline) application before the National Energy Board to remove a port in Quebec from the scope of the project," it said.

The Energy East pipeline was proposed to move 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from the Alberta oil sands to Canada's east coast refineries and a new terminal, after delays in another project — Keystone XL — that aims to move the oil southward through the American Midwest to US Gulf Coast refineries.

The nixed Quebec terminal marks another setback for TransCanada, after US authorities this week rejected its request to put off a review of the Keystone XL pipeline.

A halt in the review would perhaps have delayed a decision on building the pipeline until after the US presidential election in November 2016.