21-03-2012

AFPM calls on President Obama to approve entire keystone XL pipeline.

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Charles T. Drevna issued the following statement responding to the White House announcement today that President Obama is calling for expedited construction of the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from Cushing, Okla. to the Gulf Coast:

“Construction of a portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries is needed to speed the movement of oil already in the United States and relieve a bottleneck in Cushing, but will do absolutely nothing to give American consumers access to a vital and reliable supply of nearly 1 million barrels of oil a day from North Dakota, Montana and our good friend and neighbor Canada. After more than three years of waging war on fossil fuels, it’s long past time for President Obama to declare a cease-fire and approve construction of the entire Keystone XL pipeline to serve American consumers. He doesn’t need to travel across the country for an elaborately staged and costly media event to do this – he can do it immediately with the stroke of a pen. 

“The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the cost of crude oil accounts for 76 cents of every dollar that American consumers pay for gasoline. The best way to put downward pressure on oil prices is to increase the oil supply in the United States by producing more oil in our own country and by bringing more oil to U.S. refineries from Canada, North Dakota and Montana. Doing this would benefit American consumers, create tens of thousands of jobs for American workers, and strengthen our economic and national security by making us less reliant on unstable regions of the world for oil needed to manufacture gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil and other critically important products.”