*

Discussions at early phase, unclear whether any company

would

build the project

*

Keystone XL faced environmental, Indigenous opposition,

canceled

by President Joe Biden

By Amanda Stephenson

CALGARY, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark

Carney raised the prospect of reviving the Keystone XL oil

pipeline from Alberta to the United States during his Tuesday

meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a source

familiar with the discussions and a CBC News report on

Wednesday.

Carney, who is under increasing pressure in Canada to

address painful U.S. tariffs on steel, autos and other goods,

asked Trump if he would be interested if the Keystone project

were to be revived and had Canadian support, the source said.

The source emphasized discussions are at a very early phase,

and declined to say whether the Canadian government believes

there is a company willing to build the pipeline. Trump was

receptive, and the idea is something negotiators will look at in

follow-up discussions, the source said.

CBC News first reported that Carney and Trump discussed

Keystone. The White House and Carney's office did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

Keystone XL was a proposed crude pipeline, roughly

1,900-kilometres (1,181 miles) long, which would have carried

830,000 barrels per day of oil from the oil sands of northern

Alberta to the major U.S. storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, and

then on to Gulf Coast refineries.

TC Energy ( TRP ) first proposed the project in 2008, but

it quickly attracted significant environmental and Indigenous

opposition.

The project was rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama's

administration and revived by Trump during his first term.

Though construction work had started, the pipeline was never

completed after U.S. President Joe Biden revoked a key permit

for the U.S. stretch of the project in 2021.

Trump said in February that he would like to see the

Keystone expansion built and pledged easy approvals for the

project if the company that was building the pipeline were to

"come back to America."

But TC Energy ( TRP ), which lost billions on the Keystone project

when Biden canceled its permit, spun off its oil pipeline

business last October into a new company named South Bow ( SOBO )

.

A South Bow ( SOBO ) spokesperson said the company is not privy to

the ongoing discussions between the Canadian and U.S.

governments but supports efforts to increase the transportation

of Canadian crude oil.

The company said in February it had "moved on" from the

Keystone project.