State dept official: we probably won’t make Keystone decision this year
On top of a 3.3% decline in US crude oil prices on Wednesday comes news from Reuters that a US State Department official said the year-end target to approve the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline could well be missed. It would be the second time a decision has been pushed out.
A surge in inventories at the Cushing hub in the Midwest, the pricing point for US crude was behind the fall and a further delay to Keystone, designed to carry Canadian crude to Texas refineries and relieve the Cushing glut, will hit oil sands producers particularly hard. Canada's heavy oil already sells at almost a $30 discount to the international price.