Is Keystone now irrelevant?

The House of Representatives finally okayed development of the Keystone Pipeline, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on it this week. However, a couple of oil titans say that Keystone is old news, that the industry has moved on, finding other ways to move the oil.

Republican oil mogul Harold Hamm says Congress is wasting its time debating the Keystone XL pipeline.

“It’s not relevant at all in my opinion.

“If we have an … oil oversupply looking at us, do we need more Canadian oil here? Probably not,” Hamm said.

Instead, he said, Washington should devote its efforts to lifting the 1970s-era U.S. ban on exporting crude oil — a cause that has gained momentum in Congress during the past year, even though Republicans have been divided. “They can lift that ban on exports and level the playing field and untie our hands,” Hamm said. “That’s the number one issue right there. If anybody’s got a doubt, that’s it.”

TransCanada insists that Keystone is still needed, saying in a statement late Friday that the pipeline would aid energy independence by “[pushing] out other sources of crude oil from outside North America.”

“We agree with Mr. Hamm that the approval process for this pipeline has taken far too long and we share his frustration in that regard,” the company added. “However, our customers continue to be strongly in support of this pipeline because it represents an affordable, safe and environmentally responsible alternative to move large volumes of oil long distances.”

Another reason to allow exports is to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin by lessening the reliance of Ukraine and other European countries on Russian fuel imports, Hamm said. Putin is too unpredictable and dangerous, he said.

“I mean, how far will this guy go again?” Hamm said. “If he had been there when we had the first Cold War, we probably wouldn’t any of us be sitting here today.”

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