I thought it was to bring Canadian oil to the U.S.
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Check it out for yourself
I think you have that backwards.
Itâs to bring Canadian crude to U.S. refineries.
It is, and the problem you have is it goes through native and reserved lands. Thatâs why people donât like it. Your problem however is the grade of oil Canadian fields produced is hard to refine and the US refineries in Texas are a stones through from the ports along the coast
Look more closely at the charts. The slope of the line was flat until Jan 2021.
My response wasnât to claim âIts Bidenâs Faultâ. It wasnât a political argument although you read that into it. My argument was to refute your assertion below.
Clearly that assertion is false. Whether it is our president or Saudi Prince Faisel or Putin, gas prices ARE affected by what a chief executive does. If Faisel convices OPEC to restrict supply, gas prices go up. If Putin opens the tap and flood the market with oil, prices go down.
As for thisâŠ
Seems pretty obvious from this sentence that Ukraine as well as Covid were considered especially if you read the article in the Atlantic I linked.
The article pointed out the things Biden did to reduce the price of fuel by releasing oil from the reserves, relaxing restrictions on Venezuela and Iran and releasing more oil leases (not in the article but it has been reported). More proof that not only does the chief executive have the ability to affect gas prices but that they are keenly aware of that fact and act accordingly.
Itâs a twisted tale
that requires reading between the lines.
Which pipeline are you talking about?
You mention the XL but you post a link to the TMX
check this map and consider the dotted lines and the explanation in my first link.
it seems obvious that getting oil to ports is the purpose.
there is so much to consider but each side cherry picks their âfacts.â The âgradeâ of oil from various sources, the capacity of refineries which is relative to the âgradeâ of oils etc.
Pipelines are built to produce profits with NO concern for the retail price of gas and diesel in any market.
According to this map there are five existing pipelines, three pipelines rejected by the Canadian government, and two expansion pipelines that are still in process. Why is the Keystone XL pipeline needed?
the keystone xl is a direct link to the pipeline to the coast/port to china, etc.
maybe this cuts to the chase better than I ca.
The Trans-Mountain and Trans Mountain Expansion are much closer to Asia with termination at Vancouver BC. According to an extensive article in Wikipedia,
â In 2010 Glen Perry, a petroleum engineer for Adira Energy, warned that including the Alberta Clipper pipeline owned by TransCanadaâs competitor Enbridge, there is an extensive overcapacity of oil pipelines from Canada.[170] After completion of the Keystone XL line, oil pipelines to the U.S. may run nearly half-empty.â
The Keystone XL would only deliver oil to a tank farm in Oklahoma. There is already significant capacity, including the Keystone XL Marketlink, that delivers oil to refineries in Texas. It appears that the Keystone XLâs main function was to enhance profits for the owner, TransCanada. Their competitor, Enbridge, already provides enough capacity. The Enbridge lines connect to the Flanagan South line at Chicago and then to the Oklahoma tank farm mentioned above.
I recall reading that Houston area refineries are unable to keep up with the pipe line flow now. Excess petroleum is shipped away. BTW a few years ago raw oil was not allowed to be exported. Only fuels were allowed to ship.
I think itâs a matter of economics. The Gulf Coast refineries produce so much gasoline and other refined products that they export them. That means more profit per gallon of liquid exported. For instance, a lot of gasoline exported from the Houston area ends up in Mexico rather on the East Coast of the US. Thatâs market is served by imported oil. Hereâs a link that explains a little bit of the process.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-and-exports.php
So, Pemex no longer holds a monopoly on Mexicoâs oil market?
Pemex pretty much controls the crude market, and they export a good part of their production, but Mexico imports lots of refined product.
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US petroleum/fuel is near the top of partisan issues that are being smoke screened from every perspective. I am unable to clearly pin down any certainty from some relatively determined investigation and try to draw a reasonable conclusion on the overall situation. My conclusion is that all the $1billion+ corporations involved have and are currently hammering out positions to take advantage of all opportunities including all that can be imagined. But on the issue of the pipeline the most important immediate issue is access to
world markets. If we wanted the best possible advantage to benefit the US we would tax petroleum exports. But that statement might close this thread.
The profits on the sale of exports is taxed already. The oil companies might avoid those taxes with credits that they have received. Major oil companies seem pretty good at avoiding taxes. Reducing their tax credits seems like a good idea to me.
A marginal tax on fuel sold abroad would eliminate US prices being at the mercy of OPEC and Russia
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