Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday he is confident that
TransCanada Corp.’s (
TSX: T.TRP,
Stock Forum) controversial Keystone XL pipeline would be eventually approved by U.S. authorities.
U.S. President Barack Obama is set this year to decide the fate of the northern leg of the proposed project, which would carry crude from the Alberta oil sands in Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Obama is under heavy pressure from environmental activists to block the pipeline.
“I am confident that in due course – I can’t put a timeline on it – the project will one way or another proceed,’’ Harper said during a question-and-answer session at the Vancouver Board of Trade.
His comments appeared in a Reuters report.
TransCanada shares were off 1.6% to $47.43 Monday, leaving a market cap of $33.5 billion, based on 707.1 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $51.21 and $43.94.