White House: Obama stood by Keystone delay with Harper

HONOLULU Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday that he stood by the decision to delay a verdict on the Keystone XL pipeline, the White House said.

The leaders discussed TransCanada Corp.'s proposed $7 billion Canada-to-Texas pipeline when they met during the Asia Pacific summit in Honolulu, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

"The president underscored his support for the State Department's announcement regarding the need to seek additional information about the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood," Carney said.

The prime minister's office said Harper reiterated his disappointment to Obama and expressed hoped the project would be "decided on its merits and eventually approved." (Reporting by Laura MacInnis and Rachelle Younglai; editing by Jackie Frank)