Keystone XL backers hail government's warning on oil-by-rail | Al Jazeera America

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Pipeline supporters said the stern joint warning by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada highlights the need for Keystone XL, which would carry oil dredged from tar sands in western Canada to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the years-long review of Keystone has forced oil companies to look for alternatives to transport oil from the booming Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana to refineries in the U.S. and Canada.

A planned branch that would connect Keystone to the Bakken region would carry as much as 100,000 barrels of oil a day.

"Clearly, because this project has been held up, that is creating more (oil) traffic by rail," Hoeven said Thursday. "Those companies are being forced to deliver their product by rail because they don't have the pipelines."