CALGARY—TransCanada Corp. has suspended a $15-billion lawsuit against the United States centring on its Keystone XL pipeline after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he will likely approve the project.

The company filed the challenge under the North American Free Trade Agreement last year, alleging the U.S. government failed in its commitment to protect Canadian investors and ensure the company was treated in accordance with international law.

The process before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has been suspended until Mar. 27.

The company maintains that former U.S. president Barack Obama rejected the pipeline to appear strong on climate change, even though the government concluded numerous times that the pipeline would not have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

TransCanada renewed its regulatory push for the US$8-billion project after Trump asked the company to resubmit its application for a permit to build the pipeline, shortly after his inauguration.

The company also filed an application with the Nebraska Public Service Commission for state-level approval earlier this month.

Close to 1,900 kilometres long, the pipeline would carry some 830,000 barrels a day of Alberta crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast. It became a flash-point for climate change activists and Obama rejected it in 2015.

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