President Obama Arrives In Oklahoma

President Barack Obama has arrived in Oklahoma in advance of an energy-related speech near Cushing.

It is President Obama's first visit to the Sooner state since taking office.

Obama greeted Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and other dignitaries Wednesday night at Tinker Air Force Base before jogging over to greet a crowd of about 150 people gathered on the air base tarmac.

On Thursday in Cushing, the president will announce a directive to federal agencies to fast-track an oil pipeline from the Oklahoma town to refineries on Texas' Gulf Coast. The project is part of the larger Keystone XL project that Obama rejected earlier this year.

The 485-mile pipeline would remove a bottleneck in the country's oil transportation system, as rising oil production has outgrown pipelines' capacity to deliver oil to refineries.

The president is schedule to leave Oklahoma at midday Thursday.