Source: Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2012, page B1.

Extending the Keystone pipeline that the TransCanada Corp. uses to transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to storage hubs in Patoka, IL and Cushing, OK would increase the amount of oil exports. The company and the White House recently announced that the 435 mile extension south of Cushing to Port Arthur and Houston would be completed by 2013 and will transport 700,000 barrels per day. At present the pipeline drops south from Hardisty toward the Canadian border, east toward the eastern edge of North Dakota then south to Cushing, with a branch from Steele City, Kansas east to Patoka.

A “short cut” in this pipeline from Hardisty to Steele City would increase capacity. The White House has delayed the start of this stretch to complete an environmental study on the impact on Nebraska’s aquifer.