WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) – A North Dakota official says several pipelines that have been proposed could diminish the importance of the Keystone XL pipeline for his state’s booming oil patch.

Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer says the six proposed pipeline projects make the Keystone XL project less important to North Dakota in moving its oil to Gulf Coast and other U.S. refineries.

However, Cramer tells the Dickinson Press that the Keystone XL Pipeline is still important for national security and energy security.

TransCanada Corporation’s Keystone XL would move Canadian oil to Texas, but has been held up because it needs State Department approval to cross the U.S.-Canadian border. It also would transport oil from North Dakota and Montana across South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, says the Keystone XL pipeline is unique because it has commitments from shippers.