U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to be secretary of state, on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 24, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. John Kerry, likely America's next secretary of state, bobbed and weaved around questions about the Keystone XL pipeline Thursday.

Kerry, who appeared before the senate's foreign relations committee as part of his nomination process, didn't tip his hand on what he thinks of the $7-billion project that would ship about 700,000 barrels of crude a day from Canada's oilsands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.

When California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer asked whether he is committed to reviewing the application with a view to protect the environment, Kerry said he'll wait for the review to be completed before making a decision. bryn.weese@sunmedia.ca link rel="stylesheet" href="http://en.canoe.ca/Canoe/scripts/sun/css/paperselector.css?i=1359054603" />