Posted on 06/10/2014 5:04:49 AM PDT by thackney
Full Title: The Keystone Pipeline Is Just One Of Canada's Oil Export Options, And Maybe Not Even The Most Important
As the U.S. debates whether to relax a decades-old ban on oil exports and a political battle in the U.S. delays and threatens to reject Canada’s plans to ship oil south through the Keystone XL pipeline, Canada is looking to export significant amounts of oil overseas.
The oil shale boom in the U.S. has shrunk American demand for oil imports as Canada’s rich oil sands continue producing oil, leaving the country with too much oil and not enough buyers. About 98 percent of Canada’s petroleum exports go the U.S, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and Canadian oil accounts for about 22 percent of U.S. oil imports, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The Canadian commerce chamber has also said its producers could gain $50 million a day, $18-19 billion a year, by selling their oil outside North America.
There’s one major obstacle: Canada has for years relied on the U.S. market and has few ways to transport oil to its coasts.
Half a dozen new pipelines and expansions like the Keystone XL are planned but are years from completion, and many face similar environmental opposition seen in the U.S.
One near-term option for Canadian producers is to apply for licenses to ship oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast and re-export it overseas. Though U.S. rules ban most U.S.-produced oil exports, they allow foreign producers to apply for licenses to ship oil from American ports.
The U.S. Department of Commerce granted more than 50 permits to export crude oil in the six months through March, including to Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc., to ship oil to Japan, South Korea, Spain and other countries, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Railroads could also transport the oil, but a few fiery accidents, one that killed 47 people in Quebec, have highlighted the risk of shipping oil by rail. Even so, rail loading facilities in Western Canada are expected to hit a capacity of more than 1.1 million barrels a day by the end of this year, according to the U.S. State Department’s final environmental report on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, released in January.
That’s more than the Keystone XL’s 830,000-barrels-a-day capacity, but up to 2 million more barrels a day of capacity will be needed to meet forecasted demand through 2025, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Too much oil and not enough buyers. The price of premium gas should be much lower than the $1.54 per liter I paid the other day, theoretically.
Maybe in Canada, but not in the US or globally.
There’s more than enough buyers, just not enough distribution capacity.
Europe and China would love to have our oil right now ... how do you get it there?
Tesoro says rail-to-barge oil port for entire West Coast
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/02/tesoro-rail-crude-idUSL1N0G313N20130802
???
We don’t have to worry about the Keystone pipeline as long as odumbo is still in control. He, along with his environmental friends will never let it happen. To much money in it for HIM to allow it to be built.
I think too many republicans see it as a fund raising tool for themselves as well, as long as isn’t built yet.
We entered and finished WW2 in less time.
“The price of premium gas should be much lower than the $1.54 per liter I paid the other day, theoretically.”
I think the problem is QE used by central banks and the deficit spending by Washington and Ottawa.
The price of meat has probably gone up by 50% in the last year.
The prices of homes have gone up about 15%
The prices of stocks have gone up about 20%
This is the incredible shrinking dollar, be it US or Canadian.
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