CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says the controversial Keystone XL pipeline should have been approved a long time ago and the regulatory process has gone overboard.

Christie made the remarks in Calgary, Alberta while on his second foreign trip in recent months, which has given him the chance to build a foreign policy platform and demonstrate his policy chops as he considers a run for president in 2016.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice meeting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Thursday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice meeting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Thursday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)
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Christie, in the corporate headquarters of Canada's oil boom, said the long stalled pipeline from Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries should be approved on its merits.

President Obama's initial rejection of the pipeline went over badly in Canada, which relies on the U.S. for 97 percent of its energy exports. Alberta has the world's third largest oil reserves.

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