U.S. denies TransCanada request to pause Keystone review

The United States has formally denied a TransCanada Corp request to pause the U.S. review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday. TransCanada's request for a delay was seen by many as an attempt to avert a rejection from an increasingly environmentally focused President Barack Obama and postpone the decision until after the November 2016 presidential election. The White House declined to comment.