TORONTO, Oct 9, (AP): Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the prospect of reviving the contentious Keystone XL pipeline project with US President Donald Trump during his White House visit this week, a government official familiar with the matter said Wednesday. A Canadian company pulled the plug on it four years ago after the Canadian government failed to persuade then-President Joe Biden to reverse his cancellation of its permit on the day he took office.

It was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. Trump previously revived the long-delayed project during his first term after it had stalled under the Obama administration. It would have moved up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude daily, connecting in Nebraska to other pipelines that feed oil refineries on the US Gulf Coast.

The Canadian government official said Trump was receptive to the idea when it was talked about during their White House meeting Wednesday. The official said Carney linked energy cooperation to Canada’s steel and aluminum sectors, which is subject to 50% US tariffs. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Carney mentioned building major projects and "unleashing Canadian energy" in a live video call with business leaders in Toronto on Wednesday. Biden canceled Keystone XL's border crossing permit in 2021 over longstanding concerns that burning oil sands crude could make climate change worse and harder to reverse.

A spokesperson for South Bow Corp, the oil pipeline operator that owns the existing Keystone pipeline system, said they are not privy to the ongoing discussions between the Canadian and US governments. "South Bow is supportive of efforts to find solutions that increase the transportation of Canadian crude oil. We will continue to explore opportunities that leverage our existing corridor with our customers and others in the industry,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Carney is under pressure from the oil-rich province of Alberta to get a pipeline built. Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said building a new pipeline to increase oil shipments to the US Gulf Coast would be the cheapest, fastest and least complicated route for a major oil pipeline. "Strategically this would increase, not decrease our dependance on the US export market.