Source: President Obama To Visit Cushing Next Week

President Barack Obama will visit Oklahoma next week, his first trip to the Sooner State since he took office, a White House official told the Associated Press on Friday.

The official, who requested anonymity because the trip has not been officially announced, said Obama will make a four-state swing to tout his administration's "all of the above" energy policies.

The official says Obama will travel to Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio from March 21-22.

The president's trip includes a stop in Cushing, Oklahoma, the site of an oil storage hub with a glut of supply. 

Obama will also visit a solar facility in Nevada and an oil and gas field on public land in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He will wrap up his trip with remarks on energy at Ohio State University.

Statement from U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), on Obama's visit to Oklahoma:

"While President Obama visits Oklahoma in preparation for a new pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf, we hope that during his stay he will learn a thing or two about the benefits of using our own domestic oil and gas resources, especially as gas prices continue to skyrocket.  Unfortunately, we know his visit is little more than a campaign stop in an attempt to put a favorable spin on his dismal energy record, because current gas prices threaten his job. America has more domestic recoverable resources of oil, gas and coal than any other country in the world, and developing these resources is the best way to revive our economy while bringing down prices at the pump. Yet, President Obama continues to wage an all-out attack on American fossil fuel development in his war on affordable energy. He keeps saying that oil and natural gas are the fuels of the past, but he is wrong.  Oklahomans know they are very much the fuels of the present and the foreseeable future. The sooner he realizes this, the better."  

Calgary-based TransCanada said in February that it will build a pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas after Obama blocked the larger Keystone XL pipeline from Canada.

TransCanada said the new project does not require presidential approval, since it does not cross a U.S. border. The shorter pipeline is expected to cost about $2.3 billion and be completed next year.

The Obama administration had suggested development of an Oklahoma-to-Texas line to alleviate the oil glut.

TransCanada says it still hopes to build the full 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil derived from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, through Oklahoma, to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.

According to a statement from Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney in February, the administration will work with TransCanada to ensure that the project is built in a safe, responsible and timely manner, and will take every step possible to expedite the necessary federal permits.

Separately, TransCanada has given the State Department advance notice of its intention to submit a new application for the cross-border segment of the Keystone XL pipeline, from Canada to Steele City, Nebraska, once a route through Nebraska has been identified, the statement said.

On March 6, TransCanada said it would be a matter of weeks before the new route was set.

Obama rejected the company's earlier application in January, citing insufficient time for review or the identification of a complete pipeline route.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.