Sources in the oil industry are expecting the State Department to announce it cannot approve the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas at this time.

The Department has studied the project for three years and has until Feb. 21 to make decision on the proposal.

The White House wanted to delay the decision until after the presidential election, however, Congress gave the State Department a 60-day deadline last December.

Industry supporters and Republican lawmakers argued that the 1,700-mile pipeline would create 2,000 jobs and could provide another source of oil from a friendly country.

Environmental groups opposed the plan because they say the pipeline would lead to contamination and other environmental issues.

Earlier Wednesday, two dozen Democratic members of Congress wrote to President Barack Obama, urging him to kill the pipeline.

"We strongly believe the Keystone tar-sands pipeline poses a serious threat to the environment and public health that cannot be mitigated by the benefits of the project," the lawmakers said.

The Keystone XL pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from northern Alberta to the Gulf Coast of Texas. It would cross Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas.