Boost for Keystone XL pipeline plan The proposed Keystone XL pipeline to bring heavy oil from Canada to the south of Nebraska has cleared an important hurdle, after an environmental impact study concluded it would have only a marginal effect on greenhouse gas emissions. The state department study also suggested that building the pipeline would create more than 42,100 jobs across the US for one to two years, although once in operation it would support just 35 permanent jobs. The conclusions make it more likely that John Kerry, the secretary of state, will approve the controversial project, which has become a battleground for the oil industry and environmental campaigners. The state department has to decide on the pipeline because it crosses the border from Canada. TransCanada, the company behind the project, addressed earlier concerns about leaks from the pipeline by re-routing it away from the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills area of Nebraska. The new route is 875 miles long, and could carry up to 830,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day to Steele City, Nebraska, where it will connect up with a southern section already under construction. The aim is to connect up to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast that are configured to use heavy oil. The state department study suggests that the oil sands of Alberta, which create higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than many other forms of oil production, will be developed whether or not Keystone XL is built. Its executive summary argues: "Approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed project [Keystone XL], remains unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands, or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the US." Blocking Keystone XL would cut output from the oil sands by only 0.4-0.6 per cent by 2030, the study said. Even if all new pipeline capacity were restricted, oil sands production would drop just 2-4 per cent. That view contradicts those of environmental campaigners and some analysts, who argue that new pipelines, and Keystone XL in particular, are essential if oil sands production is to increase in the second half of this decade and beyond. The state department will now take comments about the study, before a final decision from Mr Kerry on whether the pipeline is in the US national interest.