Protesters stormed the offices of TransCanada Corporation on Monday, in another phase of activism against the company's Keystone XL pipeline plans, breaching the TransCanada lobby and ending in the arrest of two activists.
The protests were led by the Tar Sands Blockade, which managed to get 100 protesters inside the TransCanada headquarters, taking over the ground floor public space and marching inside the building for several hours.
Two protesters were arrested while performing a bit of political theater in which activists pretended to be killed by heavy crude.
The Tar Sands Blockade is an activist group comprised of environmentalists and landowners from Texas and Oklahoma.
"This is another example of the protestors' attempt to stop a project that is currently providing thousands of jobs to American workers," TransCanada spokesman David Dobson said in a statement. "TransCanada has secured every permit needed to build the Gulf Coast Project. We have followed the law to the letter. We are building the safest pipeline ever built, one that will greatly enhance America's energy security."
Related article: Keystone XL: Uncertainty Continues for 2014
This is just the latest in a series of ongoing protests over Keystone XL.
It also comes as Bloomberg reports that analysts are divided over how-and when--the Obama administration will decide on Keystone XL.
According to the agency, some analysts believe an administration review of Keystone XL underway could provide a pretext for delaying a decision on the pipeline until after the midterm congressional election in November.
Obama's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) has ordered the review, which is a joint effort among Congress, the energy industry, academia and others, including the US Department of State, which was scheduled to release a final environmental review by December, but which has not yet been forthcoming. Once released it would be subjected to a 90-day review.
Under question is the $5.3 billion leg of the Keystone XL pipeline that runs from Alberta to Nebraska, requiring presidential approval because it crosses the border.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More