Canada: Reducing Reliance on Overseas Oil

[thackney]

Canada: Reducing Reliance on Overseas Oil
http://www.arcenergyideas.com/?p=693

Canada is a peculiar country when it comes to oil. Our production far exceeds our needs, but we are not physically self-sufficient. It does seem strange that the fifth largest producer in the world doesn’t serve itself first. But in the 1950s, men in three-piece suits decided against building big, cross-country oil pipelines from Western Canada to the other side of the country.

In hindsight, it seems obvious that the western oilfields of Alberta should have been connected by pipeline to the large consuming eastern provinces. But only one, the Interprovincial Pipe Line, made it as far east as Sarnia in 1954. And even then it went through Wisconsin, out of our national boundary, to get there.

Today, the Interprovincial system has transformed into the Enbridge Mainline, an artery that moves more than half of Western Canada’s crude supply through a vast network of pipelines. Not only does the system transport Canadian barrels, US supply from the Bakken region is picked-up en route too. While the pipe has expanded over the years, most of its deliveries are to US markets. For instance, last year, only about 500 MB/d or 12% of all Western Canadian supply made it to Ontario and points east.

The decision not to build west-east pipelines was economic. Quebec and the Maritimes posited that because of their access to Atlantic tidewater they could access cheaper international oil from places like Africa and the Middle East. At the time, they were right.

But things change. And quick change has a tendency to leave lingering myths. One such falsehood is Brian’s commonly-held perception that Quebec and Atlantic Canada buy the bulk of their oil from the other side of the planet.  I told him, “Contrary to popular belief, Canada imports a relatively small amount from Saudi Arabia, or from any other contentious part of the world for that matter. Nor does it get much from the North Sea or North Africa anymore.”

Brian was surprised to learn that most of Canada’s imports now come from the United States.

Excerpted

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Canada: Reducing Reliance on Overseas Oil
http://www.arcenergyideas.com/?p=693

Excerpted

Another item which is unmentioned inhibiting the east/west pipelines is the autonomy of the Canadian provinces.  They simply will not necessarily cooperate with each other to enrich one of them.

This is similar to my experience in Australia, where I evaluated a gas project for fields in the Northern Territory.

The most viable market was an aluminum mine situated in Queensland that burnt high cost coal that could be replaced by 100 mmcfd gas.

It was a non-starter as the project would displace all those Queensland coal miners from work, so Queensland killed it.

I wouldn't be surprised is there were dock workers involved in Quebec.......