Senate energy panel to consider Keystone XL bill Thursday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate energy committee will consider a bill next Thursday to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a spokesman for the head of the panel said on Friday. The bill is similar to one that fell one vote short of passage in November, according to the office of Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who is the new chairman of the energy panel. Supporters of TransCanada Corp's $8 billion project to bring Canada's oil sands petroleum to Nebraska en route to refineries on the Gulf Coast say they have picked up votes for the project in November's midterm elections. But they do not yet have the 67 votes that would be needed to override any veto by President Barack Obama. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner)