Obama Blocks Keystone Pipeline TRP but What Happens When Oil Prices Increase Recovery in 2016 ? opec higher price

Of the many possible scenarios for the future direction of oil prices the consensus appears to be that they will begin to increase within one and two years up to a price range of between $75-$85, which should hold steady for some time thereafter.  By then, projects that the US supply currently relies on (north dakota/california shale/alberta tar sands) will have lost a lot of their investment thanks to the price crash of 2014-2015;

They will require a lot of time to restart - perhaps a year or more. That could mean trouble for US consumers who won't be able to handle the eventual spike in prices, which could last months or even years.  The Keystone pipeline would alleviate much of the supply concerns and don't forget that Canadian oil remains the cheapest available on the market !  WCS is routinely 30%+ cheaper the alternatives West Texas Intermediate WTI and European crude.  Also keep in mind that Canada is home to over half of economically viable oil available to investors.

A 2017 oil price revival
oil price recovery in 2016 ?

According to the International Energy Agency IEA by 2017, the supply demand curve will move significantly in the opposite direction.. this will lead to a rapid rise in US oil output from shale projects : +17% -> 5.2 million barrels per day.

according to key people in the petroleum industry:

..there's "evidence that future production will be curtailed,” chief economist and portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management
-- this is already ringing true in Canada where Cenovus Energy has already made two capital spending cuts with heavyweight Husky Energy cutting back as well.

.. OPEC is saying that US gasoline demand will increase 1.17m bpd -> 92.3m bpd next year.

US shale production is being hit hard by the lower price.. in the second half of this year, a lot of marginal barrels will disappear from the market and demand will rise for OPEC.. this allegedly is a result of a decision back in 2014 by OPEC to maintain production levels in spite of the price correction.

Approving Keystone Pipeline Makes Sense

consider the ramifications of NOT having it built AND facing the steep rise in oil price - oil price increase that will happen by 2017

70% of Americans support lifting the present ban on oil exports to Mexico.. among other countries - and this is something the President is currently mulling.  Approving Keystone XL will give America's largest refineries first dibs on 100+ years worth of crude oil reserves (with the best flow through rates) and that makes perfect sense !  even the state of Nebraska, home of the aquifer which environmentalists were initially considering their key to winning the debate, now supports the project after careful consideration convinced even them that the benefits far outweigh any conceivable risks; safeguards include 24 hr a day surveillance, state of the art monitoring/sensor systems, cutting edge pipeline technology - not to mention a new route that puts more spacing between it and the more sensitive areas of the acquifer.

Back in 2012 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton put her support behind it - a future president Clinton will get the keystone pipeline approved !

New Technologies Makes Oil Pipelines Safer (and cheaper) Than Rail For Petroleum Transport

Currently, the Canadian oil that does eventually get down to Houston's oil refineries is coming in on rail cars which makes the end products more expensive to buy.  As illustrated by the October 2014 Lac-Mégantic, Quebec rail disaster, oil-by-rail is not always a safer method of transport.