Benefits of Dakota Access and Keystone XL: By the Numbers

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

This week President Donald Trump signed a series of Executive Orders that will revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, which had been stalled under President Obama. NBC reports that President Trump said during the signing, "From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States."

Keystone XL and DAPL

Both of these pipelines have the potential to bring huge economic benefits to the United States. Here is a snapshot:

Keystone XL (KXL)

  • Will create 20,000 direct jobs for Americans during construction.

  • Will create an additional 118,000 indirect jobs during construction.

  • Will pay over $5 billion in taxes to the communities the pipeline passes through.

  • Will generate an estimated $20 billion of economic stimulus to the U.S. during construction.


Dakota Access (DAPL)

  • Created roughly 33,000 jobs during construction.

  • Will create 160 permanent jobs upon completion.


In North Dakota alone, Dakota Access:

  • Created nearly 7,700 jobs and generated $450 million in labor income during construction.

  • Generated additional sales, use, gross receipts, and lodging taxes of $32.9 million for state government, $1.7 million for local governments.

  • Will generate $5.9 million from individual income tax.  

  • Once operational, will generate for state and local governments ongoing annual sales, use, gross receipts, and lodging tax revenues of about $158,000 and income tax increases of about $84,000.

  • In its first year, DAPL will generate about $13.1 million in new property tax revenue for local governments.


In addition to the monetary benefits, having a reliable supply of oil being safely transported from its North American source to markets across the country will enhance our energy security.

The Executive Orders ask TransCanada to re-submit its permit application for Keystone XL and gives the U.S. State Department 60 days from the receipt of the application to reach a decision on the project. For Dakota Access, the order directs the Army Corps of Engineers “to take all actions necessary and appropriate” to conduct this review, and to approve the pipeline “in an expedited manner... to the extent permitted by law and as warranted.”

Both orders get the ball rolling toward final decisions, and in the case of Dakota Access, perhaps the completion of a pipeline that is nearly all the way built and has already had tremendous benefits for the region.