As debate rages over Keystone XL pipeline, project will have minimal impact in Oklahoma

Oklahoma leaders are praising the renewed momentum in Congress to approve the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, although the project will have only a minimal economic impact on the Sooner State.

Construction of the Oklahoma portion of the pipeline is already finished. If approved, the 36-inch-diameter pipeline will carry crude oil from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.

The current debate in Congress is centered on the proposed northern leg, which would run from Hardesty, Alberta, Canada, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska.

The Gulf Coast leg of the project began carrying oil earlier this year from the north-central Oklahoma town of Cushing to refineries in the Gulf Coast.