A new study from consultancy IHS Cera has concluded that construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would not have a material impact on US greenhouse gas emissions, in part because the replacement for volumes from Canadian oil sands would most likely have the same carbon footprint. Breaking Energy has reported on comments in the past suggesting alternative suppliers’s environmental regulations may  be more lax than Canada’s.

“Any absence of oil sands on the U.S. Gulf Coast (the destination for Keystone XL) would most likely be replaced by imports of heavy crude oil from Venezuela, which has the same carbon footprint as oil sands,” said IHS.

IHS Cera said it concurs with the State Department’s conclusion that Canada is going to develop its oil sands whether or not a pipeline is built to transport output to the US.