Keystone XL owner TC Energy seeking compensation from U.S. for cancelled pipeline

TC Energy Inc. has filed a formal request for arbitration under NAFTA rules, seeking compensation from the U.S. government for the money it spent on trying to develop the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline.

The company said in a statement late Monday that it has officially filed paperwork under a part of NAFTA rules that allows companies to seek compensation for lost investment.

U.S. President Joe Biden symbolically killed the pipeline on his first day in office earlier this year, the culmination of a multi-year saga under three U.S. presidents to build a pipeline to bring 900,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The pipeline was proposed under the Obama administration, who ultimately rejected the application on environmental grounds. President Trump then revived the project, before Biden squashed it again.

WATCH | How politics killed the Keystone XL pipeline:

Although TC Energy is trying to get compensation for the money it spent trying to develop the project, it has no intention of reviving the pipeline.

"As a public company, TC Energy has a responsibility to our shareholders to seek recovery of the losses incurred due to the permit revocation, which resulted in the termination of the project," the company said in a press release.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the company is seeking $15 billion US.