Nope...must disagree
Kerry, Obama, DNC Leadership all know that they have Canada by the b.. er, Maple Leaves, over Keystone
Kerry, Obama, et al are quite familiar with NAFTA, they support it (Kerry even voted for it)...NAFTA forces Canada to ship 2/3 of its oil and gas to the US. Even if Canada goes elsewhere with a pipeline...they still have to sell to the US
Also, a pipeline from the tar sands in Alberta to Pacific ports means they have to cross Rockies....that would cost more to do than a pipeline through the flat Prairie Provinces and US Great Plains to US ports. A pipeline thru the Rockies means they have to set up stations along the way to pump oil and gas over mountains and passes.
Canada is really getting skrewed here. If I was Canada I would abrogate (leave) NAFTA....or threaten to do so. That would get Keystone built
.NAFTA forces Canada to ship 2/3 of its oil and gas to the US.
- - - -
Not True.
Article 605 of NAFTA has been interpreted by some to mean that Canada is required to sell a certain percentage of its energy output to the United States, even in the face of a severe domestic shortage. Moreover, they argue that NAFTA prevents this percentage from falling over time.
Neither of these statements is true. Canadian producers are free to sell as much oil as they wish to whomever they wish, including, for example, overseas customers. As a result, the share of total output exported to the United States can rise or fall according to the normal forces of supply and demand.
The only condition that NAFTA imposes on Canadian energy products is that all buyers in North America must have equal rights to buy those products.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/researchpublications/prb0633-e.htm
$6.5 billion (Canadian)
$5.9 billion (US)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/northern-gateway-pipeline-by-the-numbers-1.2469224
- - - - - - -
$5.3 billion US
http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-project/
10% price difference, hardly a deal breaker when you don't have to depend on Obama's administration.
Following the rivers helps a good bit. As well as that far north the Canadian Rockies are no where near as much trouble as most Americans associate with the Rockies.
That's not how it works. The deal is that in the event of shortages, domestic consumption must be reduced by the same amount that exports are curtailed. We can sell our oil to anyone if the Americans won't take it, and there are two proposals to expand our market:
1. A pipeline and terminal on the west coast for exports to Asia.
2. The Energy East project to reverse the flow of an existing pipeline to Montreal and extend it to New Brunswick, displacing the Venezuelan crude that is sent to the Maritimes.
To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.
Canada Ping!
