Proceedings Over TransCanada Lawsuit Against Kerry to Begin April 18

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — TransCanada’s court proceedings against US Secretary of State John Kerry over the US government’s refusal to permit the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline will start on April 18 in Texas, the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas told Sputnik on Thursday.

"There’s a date for a phone conference," the court said. "The phone conference is April 18th at 8:45[am] CST [Central Standard Time]."

Earlier on Wednesday, TransCanada filed a Notice of Intent to initiate a claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after Barack Obama denied the pipeline. The company seeks to recover over $15 billion in damages.

On Thursday, US advocacy group the Center For Biological Diversity Senior Counsel William Snape told Sputnik that TransCanada’s decision to file the lawsuit now is intended to further politicize the issue.

On November 6, Obama rejected construction of the Keystone pipeline, which was expected to bring more than 300,000 barrels of oil daily to US refineries. Proponents argued that the Keystone initiative would create jobs and reduce US dependency on foreign oil imports from unstable countries.