Keystone XL could help replace Venezuelan crude

Fuel Fix:

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The U.S. imported 2.4 million barrels per day of Canadian crude last year, a 1,368 percent increase from the low of 164,000 barrels per day in 1981. Imports from Mexico and Saudi Arabia are down from levels a decade ago, due in part to a boom in U.S. production from formations such as the Bakken formation in the upper Midwest. At the same time, production from Venezuela has fallen.

The Keystone pipeline could ship as much as 830,000 barrels a day from Canada and the Midwest, according to TransCanada. The Calgary-based company estimates that the project would reduce U.S. dependence on oil from Middle East producers and Venezuela, which has had a testy relationship with the U.S. and in 2010 revoked the visa of its ambassador during the presidency of the late Hugo Chavez.
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With the increased production from US wells, we could eliminate imports from a regime that hates us.  At a minimum we could reduce imports from OPEC related countries which should help hold down price increases.