Keystone XL gets indigenous investment to woo Biden

Bloomberg

Keystone XL is receiving an investment from Canadian indigenous groups in a deal that
TC Energy Corp hopes will help save its embattled oil pipeline project from being scrapped by US President-elect Joe Biden.
Natural Law Energy, a group of five first nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, will make an equity investment of as much as C$1 billion ($765 million) in the project, Calgary-based TC Energy said. The company is close to striking deals with other
indigenous communities in both the US and Canada, Bevin Wirzba, TC’s president of liquids pipelines, said in an investor presentation.
Alberta, a province holding the world’s third-largest crude reserves, desperately needs more pipelines to export crude from its oil sands. Keystone XL is among the many pipeline projects in North America that have suffered growing opposition from environmental and indigenous groups.
The conduit, which was rejected by the Obama administration and revived by President Donald Trump, needs a permit from the US government because it crosses the border with Canada. Biden’s campaign has said he would rescind the permit granted by Trump.
Partnerships with indigenous communities, which often spearhead opposition to oil pipelines, is one of several strategies that TC Energy hopes will make the project more palatable to the incoming administration in the US, according to Wirzba.
TC Energy has also signed agreements with labour unions, making the project 100% union built, and set up a “green training fund” to help union workers transition to green economy jobs. Already, 200 kilometres of the pipeline has been constructed since work started this year, including a section across the international border.