Keystone pipeline backer tries again for U.S. Congress approval

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker who has tried several times to marshal congressional support to speed approve of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is taking another crack at it with a new bill.

Lee Terry is slated to unveil his latest proposal on Monday afternoon, which would allow construction to begin on all but the portion of TransCanada Corp's pipeline that goes through his home state of Nebraska.

Nebraska's state government is currently studying a new proposed route for the portion of the pipeline running through the state.

President Barack Obama put a hold on the Canada-to-Texas pipeline in January, saying it needed more environmental review because of a change in routing to avoid an ecologically sensitive region of Nebraska.

The delay angered the Canadian government, which has said it would pursue markets for its oil in China.

On Monday, China's state oil company CNOOC announced it would buy Nexen Inc, a player in Canada's massive oil sands resource, for $15.1 billion. If successful, it would be China's biggest foreign corporate takeover.

TransCanada has said it plans to build the southern portion of the Keystone pipeline running to Texas refineries from Cushing, Oklahoma - a portion that does not require presidential approval because it does not cross the U.S. border.

The company has applied to the State Department for approval for the rest of the line.

Terry's bill would simply approve the northern portion of the line running from the Canadian border to Nebraska, a route that has been studied for several years.

While there is extensive support in Congress for the pipeline because of the construction jobs it would create, several previous efforts to approve the pipeline have not made it through the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate.

The White House also has said Obama would veto bills that override his pipeline approval power.