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Pipes for the pipeline project (archive image)
Photo: Chris Machian / AP
The Keystone XL oil pipeline project, which has been opposed by environmental activists for many years, has finally been terminated by its operators.
After considering the remaining options and consulting the government of the Canadian province of Alberta, the project was rejected.
The TC Energy Corporation announced on Wednesday (local time) in Calgary.
This ends a long and tough conflict between the oil industry and environmentalists, which also preoccupied the courts and politics in the USA and Canada.
The decision of the company and the Canadian province comes as no surprise.
US President Joe Biden had withdrawn the permission granted by his predecessor Donald Trump for the construction after he took office.
The start of construction for the 1,450-kilometer section on US territory was scheduled for the coming year.
Biden followed the line of ex-President Barack Obama, who had already banned the project before Trump came into office because of environmental concerns.
Keystone XL was to complement an existing pipeline system to bring more oil to the US.
Environmentalists feared greenhouse gases and leaks that are harmful to the climate.
Trump was excited, environmentalists were concerned
Keystone XL was one of former President Trump's favorite projects.
The pipeline, which cost the equivalent of almost seven billion euros, was supposed to transport around 500,000 barrels of oil a day from tar sand deposits in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the US state of Texas.
The technically very complex extraction of oil from the sandy tar soils creates huge lakes with polluted water.
In addition, according to environmentalists, the bitumen contained in this type of oil has a corrosive effect on the oil pipes, which increases the risk of leaks.
Climate activists also complained that too many greenhouse gases are released in the complicated process of extracting oil from tar sand.
jok / dpa