The Keystone Pipeline, Explained

What the Keystone Pipeline is, who owns it, what went wrong in 2022, and why Keystone XL keeps coming back.

What it is

The Keystone Pipeline system carries crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, into the United States, with branches to refineries and storage hubs in Illinois, Oklahoma and the Texas Gulf Coast. It entered service in 2010 and was built by TransCanada, later renamed TC Energy. In October 2024, TC Energy spun off its liquids pipelines into a new company, South Bow, which now owns and operates Keystone.

Keystone XL

Keystone XL was a proposed shortcut from Alberta through Montana to Nebraska. After more than a decade of protests, legal fights and changing presidential decisions, its permit was revoked in January 2021 and the project was cancelled that June. In 2026, South Bow began gauging shipper interest in a new pipeline that would reuse some of Keystone XL’s legacy permits, with a final decision reported as unlikely before 2027.

The 2022 spill

In December 2022 the line ruptured near Mill Creek in Washington County, Kansas, releasing roughly 13,000 barrels of oil, one of the largest onshore U.S. crude spills in years. In July 2026 the U.S. Justice Department and EPA announced a proposed Clean Water Act settlement of about $27 million with the pipeline’s owner and operator.

Why it matters

Keystone sits at the center of debates about energy security, jobs, landowner rights, Indigenous rights and climate. Whatever your view, it is a case study in how much depends on a single piece of infrastructure, and on maintaining it well.

A Boston Made Reader original. Keystone by Kingswell is a Kingswell Strategic Ventures product and is not affiliated with South Bow, the Keystone Pipeline, or any other business that uses the Keystone name.