Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announces that shovels are in the ground in Alberta, Saskatchewan and parts of the United States on the Keystone XL pipeline expansion.

On Saturday, the day after Alberta premier announced at a press release that after the province made a $1.1 billion dollar equity investment in the Keystone XL pipeline, that shovels were already in the ground. Jason Kenney shared pictures on social media pictures of the pipeline crossing into the United States along the Saskatchewan border.

Keystone XL pipeline construction shows progress as it crosses the border into the United States from Saskatchewan

A long with the initial investment to get the pipeline project going again, the province will also provide an additional $4.2 billion in loan guarantees to help developer TC Energy start construction immediately. Kenney has said that the government had been negotiating with the company for months, and that no private sector bidders were ready to finance the project at this time. “In other words,” Kenney has said, “without this investment by Alberta, the pipeline would not be built.”

The project when completed, “in the spring or summer of 2023 will connect Canada’s oil sands with refineries in the United States. The pipeline is critical to the long-term future of Alberta’s oil industry, which has maxed out its capacity to bring oil to foreign markets using rail. Cars and existing pipelines. The Keystone XL pipeline will carry 830,000 barrels per day south from Alberta to a number of locations in the states.

Aside from announcing that, “construction is well under way” Kenney also added, “Our historic investment in getting a major pipeline built, creating good, high paying jobs – one of the reasons was to get work moving now in this construction season and throughout 2020.”

Alberta faces a long road to an economic recovery once the country can get past the Covid- 19 pandemic, Kenney is staying positive, “This investment will create 7,000 jobs, directly and indirectly here in Alberta this year alone. We believe that Alberta’s government will receive back at least 30 billion dollars in additional royalties and other revenues because of the additional shipments that Keystone XL will make possible.”