Pipeline bottleneck could prove very costly to Canada
Posted Jan 4, 2013 7:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Canadian Energy Research Institute estimates if oil and gas producers can’t get access to new markets, the economic losses could top $1-trillion over the next 20 years.
The Calgary Herald reports CERI’s forecast also includes the loss of $276-billion in taxes for the federal and provincial governments.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has been travelling the country, banging the drum for new pipeline projects including the Northern Gateway proposal to the west coast.
Alberta’s Finance Minister Doug Horner says right now, oilsands bitumen is being sold at a $36 a barrel discount.
Gary Leach with the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada describes the current pipeline bottleneck as a big hair cut for everyone.
Leach tells 660News there has always been a price gap in what Alberta producers get for their product, but because of shipping capacity constraints it’s been growing.
He says there is some hope later this year The U.S. will finally approve the much-delayed Keystone XL Pipeline Project to the Gulf Coast, and the flow of some of other pipelines out east will be reversed, which will help ease some of the backlog.
The Canadian energy industry is also looking at expanding the use of rail to ship oil and gas.
