EPA: State Dept. Should Weigh Oil Price Drop in Keystone Decision

The U.S. environmental regulator said in a letter to the State Department on Tuesday that the recent oil price drop should be a factor in the Obama administration's final decision about the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Given recent large declines in oil prices, more attention should be paid to due to the "potential implications of lower oil prices on project impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions," the Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter to the State Department.

The letter was commenting on the State Department's final environmental impact statement on TransCanada Corp's project to ship oil from Canada's oil sands to refineries and ports along the Gulf Coast.

Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici