(Adds details from legal files, background)
TORONTO, June 25 (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp TRP.TO is
formally requesting arbitration over U.S. President Barack
Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, seeking $15
billion in damages, the company said in legal papers dated
Friday.
TransCanada submitted a notice for an arbitration claim in
January and had then tried to negotiate with the U.S. government
to "reach an amicable settlement," the company said in files
posted on the pipeline's website.
"Unfortunately, the parties were unable to settle the
dispute."
TransCanada said it then filed its formal arbitration
request under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
provisions, seeking to recover what it says are costs and
damages.
The Keystone XL was designed to link existing pipeline
networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude from
Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and,
eventually, the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Obama rejected the cross-border crude oil pipeline last
November, seven years after it was first proposed, saying it
would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the U.S.
economy.
TransCanada is suing the United States in federal court in a
separate legal action, seeking to reverse the pipeline's
rejection.
NAFTA, whose arbitration provisions allow companies to
challenge governments before international panels, has been a
target of recent anti-free-trade sentiments in the United
States.
The heads of NAFTA members, Canada, the United States and
Mexico, are expected to meet in Ottawa for a North American
leaders' Summit on June 29.
Canada was supposed to host the meeting early last year but
cancelled it amid tension between then Prime Minister Stephen
Harper and Obama over the Keystone XL pipeline.
TransCanada and the U.S. Department of Energy did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Graphic on the Keystone XL pipeline http://tmsnrt.rs/1kpGlrm
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