TransCanada chides Obama administration over Twitter

The column takes several shots at President Obama’s energy-heavy State of the Union address, chiding his “economic muddledom” and alleging his promotion of oil-and-gas development is dishonest.

“Without his nose growing visibly, the president claimed the government was behind the technological advances that led to the current shale gas boom, and even suggested that he might take credit for the rise in domestic oil production,” the column by Peter Foster notes.

Twitter jabs aside, TransCanada is also hoping its rapport with the White House isn’t broken beyond repair (especially if Obama is reelected). The company has announced it will re-apply to the State Department for a permit for Keystone XL, which would bring oil sands crude from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries.

The administration, for its part, has insisted that its rejection was not based on the “merits” of the proposal, but instead what Obama called an “arbitrary” decision timeline that Republicans demanded. 

UPDATE: TransCanada denies that they have “chided” President Obama. The company sent along the following statement:

Despite the denial of the Presidential Permit at this time, we respect the good working relationship that we have enjoyed with the White House and the Department of State since 2008 and we look forward to continuing to keep the lines of communication open as we prepare a new application for the Keystone XL pipeline. What we have done since 2008 is highlight the investment, the high-quality jobs and the importance of this project to Americans. Those facts continue to stand.
 
In anything we have authored or said, we have not chided or criticized President Obama for the recent decision on the Keystone XL project. We will leave that to others. As a practice, we will post articles that offer a variety of viewpoints on issues related to our industry or our company. That is part of having a reasonable and civil discussion on subjects that matter to people. We retweet or share all kinds of postings – many that make the case for our pipeline project, some about important community activities and even some that highlight good things about our peers and competitors. 

This post was updated at 4:42 p.m.