Senate panel moves Keystone XL pipeline bill forward despite veto threat

WASHINGTON — A bill to approve the Canada-U.S. Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared a key United States Senate committee today.

The move came despite a veto threat from the White House.

The Energy and Natural Resources committee moved the bill closer to full debate in the Senate by a 13-9 vote.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a sponsor of the bill, was the only Democrat to support it.

New energy committee chairman Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, noted the bill has Democratic supporters and came within one vote of passing the Senate last year.

The House of Representatives will vote on its version of the bill Friday and is expected to pass it easily.

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) has been waiting for more than six years for a U.S. permit to build the $8-billion pipeline, which has become a major irritant in Canada-U.S. relations.

The pipe would connect to an existing TransCanada system, enabling some 830,000 barrels of crude per day, mostly from Alberta, to more directly reach the lucrative Gulf Coast market by cutting diagonally from the Saskatchewan-Montana border to Steele City, Neb.