President Barack Obama said on Friday that construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to transport crude oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast would only nominally benefit American consumers and workers.

"There is very little impact - nominal impact - on U.S. gas prices, what the average American consumer cares about," Obama told reporters during an end-of-year press conference.

Construction of the pipeline would create a "couple thousand" jobs, but there are better ways to create long-term, paying jobs for American workers by investing in infrastructure, Obama added.

The incoming Republican-controlled Senate has vowed that its first act in January will be to approve the Keystone pipeline.