(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today made the following statement in response to China’s state-owned oil company CNOOC purchasing Canada’s Nexen Inc. Vitter and others have warned of China’s interest in Canada’s energy resources and highlighted this as a reason to move quicker in approving the Keystone XL pipeline. CNOOC is China’s state-run offshore oil producer, and acquisition of Nexen will give it access to energy resources in Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea.

“China’s purchase of a Canadian energy producer is a big, big wake-up call, especially while the administration continues to stall our plan to approve the Keystone XL pipeline,” Vitter said. “China – the world’s second biggest economy– recognizes Canada’s energy resource potential, and they are making moves to get it. Completing the Keystone XL pipeline makes economic and security sense for the U.S. because it would bring enough supply from Canada to offset six percent of total U.S. daily oil imports – or the amount imported from Oman, Chad, Algeria and Iraq combined.”

Vitter has been a leader in the U.S. Senate to get the Keystone XL pipeline approved. Earlier this year, Vitter introduced a bill that would prevent the Obama administration from drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until Keystone XL is fully permitted. Vitter was also a lead coauthor of a bill to approve permits under Congress’s constitutional authority for the full Keystone XL pipeline.