The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved the route of the proposed US$8bn Keystone XL oil pipeline, which was cleared by the new US President in March 2017. Nebraska was the last of three states - Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska - to have to approve the project to make it go ahead. However, the PSC approved a slightly different path than the preferred route proposed by TransCanada. The selected alternative route runs east of TransCanada’s preferred route and makes the facility cross parts of six additional counties not previously in the path of Keystone XL.
The 830,000 bbl/d Keystone XL project, developed by TransCanada to link the Alberta oil sands to the United States over a 1,897 km (1,179 miles) route, had been repeatedly delayed by the previous US Government. The project was approved by the US Senate and the House of Representatives in 2015, but was finally vetoed by President Obama. Later on, TransCanada initiated a claim under Chapter 11 of NAFTA, seeking to recover more than US$15bn in costs and damages.