The Canadian oil currently makes it to Oklahoma. The Keystone extension would carry it to the Gulf Coast where it could be put on tankers and sold to the world market at a higher price. However, when it is trapped at Cushing, it is sold at about 15 - 20% below world price. The benefit goes to local refiners and the US consumer. Look up the Brent / WTI spread differential discussions for more info. That's why nobody in US govt is in a rush to complete the extension. It will get approved though don't worry, right about the time Canadian interests overcome opposition to a western pipeline upgrade. Don't give Obama or any other puppet so much credit for how government operates.
Relax guys he will vote it in after the elections and his position is locked for the next 4 years. Standard political ploy. He is bidding up the bribe money and insuring his reelection by showing the greens that he loves nature. Once the vote comes in he will get his packet of cash, pipe gets built, the greens have moved on to a new cause and the story is over.
Canada should refine it's oil. Gifting 20,000 jobs to Americans at our expense doesn't sit well with most Canadians. This is rarely discussed in the media, however. Logistically, it's retarded to pump 1 million bpd across the continent when it could be refined on-site.
Sure, it could be put on tankers and sold at a higher price. It also might not. And even if it is, it's pure profit for American companies, and as you say, benefits the US consumer. To be honest, I think these are great reasons as to why the USA would be in a hurry to complete the extension. Not to mention the economic benefits of construction and operation/maintenance on the pipeline itself. This thread wasn't meant to be a direct attack on Obama, but rather American politicians in general. I think this delay will do nothing but help Canadians and Canadian politicians realize that a pipeline pointing westward is now a necessity, since a pipeline extension southward isn't going to happen any time soon.
I'm no refinery expert, but wouldn't you still need to ship the stuff somewhere? And wouldn't this require massive investment? Just build a pipeline west and feed China all of the oil they can handle. China is thirsty and we have plenty of drink. The Americans don't want it, so let's go elsewhere.
One strategy that U.S. uses to control other countries is to make the country's government very weak, government officials come and go in short tenure, and unable to make any long lasting decisions. e.g. Japanese government is set up by U.S. after WWII, and administration changes often, no single point of big decision. This strategy is applied to U.S. government by bankers too. LOL.
True. But the difference is more jobs for Canadians instead of less. We're a resource-based economy now. Better to vertically integrate what few industries we have, instead of dismantling and shipping them off elsewhere?
It's hard to find anything faulty with that logic. But it seems so obvious, there must be a reason as to why this isn't being done already?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...canada-s-keystone-pipeline-flaherty-says.html Flaherty Says U.S. Delay in $7 Billion Keystone Pipeline May Doom Project By Andrew Mayeda and Greg Quinn - Nov 11, 2011 12:02 AM ET âThe decision to delay it that long is actually quite a crucial decision. Iâm not sure this project would survive that kind of delay,â Flaherty said yesterday in an interview at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu. âIt may mean that we may have to move quickly to ensure that we can export our oil to Asia through British Columbia.â Flaherty, 61, will travel later this week to Beijing, where he will discuss increasing energy exports to China and facilitating investment in Canadian natural-resource assets. Enbridge Inc. (ENB) has proposed building a pipeline, called Northern Gateway, that would transport crude from Albertaâs oil sands to Canadaâs Pacific coast, while Kinder Morgan Inc. plans to expand its Trans Mountain route to do the same.
We have a long history of selling raw resources. Shipping logs instead of furniture, etc. Giant country, immense resources, small population - it's almost "sustainable". My understanding is that US refiners have also been opposed to this pipeline. Not completely sure why - perhaps because it means more oil could escape in its natural unrefined state.