Alberta should drop its fight to revive Keystone XL because the project makes no economic sense, a former energy executive said.

Former Husky Energy Inc. chief executive officer Art Price said the project, nixed by Joe Biden on his first day as U.S. president, is “uneconomic” and shouldn't be a priority for the energy industry as there is no demand in the North American market for the increase in oil production the pipeline would require. 

“If the producers aren’t willing to sign off on the pipeline and the refiners aren’t willing to sign off for the pipeline, then it has no economic purpose today,” he said.

Price said the Alberta government shouldn’t have stepped in to financially support the pipeline and that the attempt to resuscitate it has more to do with politics than economics.

“It would be different if there was a million barrels of existing oil sands production locked in or stagnant, but that is not the case,” he said. “This is basically no different than the NDP when they put a bunch of taxpayer money into rail cars to haul oil.”

The Alberta government is now mulling taking legal action against the U.S. over the pipeline’s cancellation, with Premier Jason Kenney having previously urged the federal government to impose trade sanctions against the U.S. should the Biden administration refused to reconsider its decision. 

But Price said no company in the province would support a trade war over a project that isn’t needed.

“I’m talking about shareholders and investors in the Alberta economy, because if you’re an existing oil producer and you’re not in the oil sands, you’re not for sanctions between Alberta and the United States: your market is the United States," Price said.