The U.S. government has denied the North American energy company TransCanada a permit to build the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline.

President Barack Obama determined the pipeline is not in the U.S. national interest at present, the Department of State announced today (January 18).

TransCanada has been planning to expand its existing pipeline system to transport crude oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Obama said there was not enough time to assess the project and blamed Congressional Republicans who in December passed an act imposing a 60-day deadline.

“As the State Department made clear last month, the rushed and arbitrary deadline insisted on by Congressional Republicans prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people, as well as our environment,” Obama said in a statement.

“This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people.”

The Department of State said the permit denial does not prevent “any subsequent permit application or applications for similar projects”.