The U.S. really doesn't need the Northern leg of the Keystone Pipeline.

The Southern Leg of the pipeline was installed and operating by early 2016. I know because I had stood on top of it when it first started. That line is a 36" and runs from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Southeast Texas Gulf Coast.

At full extraction rates, the Alberta Oil Sands are capable of producing up to 1.3 Million Barrel per day (BPD) of oil. Roughly 1.1 to 1.2 Million BPD flows through the 42" pipeline to just North of Flanagan Illinois. From there, the oil flows through a 42" spur across the Canadian border to Flanagan Illinois.

From there, it flows into one of two pipelines. The Flanagan pipeline is a 36" running from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma (to join the Southern leg of Keystone Pipeline). It moves roughly 700,000 BPD. The 30" Eastern Gulf Pipeline runs from Flanagan, Illinois to Lake Charles, Louisiana. It moves about 520,000 BPD.

The rest of the oil (bitumen) is moved by railcar or other means. We have the capability now to carry 100% of the Alberta oil sands extraction to the refineries. If the Northern Keystone Pipeline was suddenly miracled into place... there isn't anything for it to do. We would have to stop using the other pipelines (which are U.S. owned) in order to use the new 36" Northern Keystone line instead of the Flanagan pipeline. It really doesn't add any new capacity.