Cushing Oil Hub Will Grow With or Without Keystone XL, Pipeline Exec. Says

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The northern portion of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is still awaiting President Barack Obama’s approval, but even if the project was stopped, Oklahoma’s oil hub in Cushing would continue to grow, a pipeline industry advocate said Wednesday.

Keystone XL is designed to carry crude oil from Canada’s tar sands through Oklahoma on its way to refineries along Texas’ Gulf Coast. The pipeline has met fierce resistance from environmentalists north of Oklahoma, but the Cushing-to-Texas portion is already under construction. Oil will flow in and out of bottlenecked Cushing with or without the northern segment, Andrew Black, president and CEO of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines told the Tulsa Press Club.

The Tulsa World’s Jerry Wofford reports:

Petroleum from western Canada will come south regardless, he said, and will be transported by truck or rail if the pipeline isn’t built.

“Railroads are filling in where pipelines cannot and moving much more crude oil than ever before,” he said.