What exactly are we shipping to them? With a little digging you'd find out that while it may not be refined it has had the more valuable petrochemicals stripped out leaving a product that is only good for making fuel, a few lubricants and plastic.
The paraffin from bitumen and heavy oil to make plastics is why it's shipped as a raw material and highly desired.
A plastic industry here would never happen with todays regs.
I could fit both in my farm.
The Northeast region of British Columbia, also known as the Peace region, has a robust agricultural sector which includes a range of products such as grain, oil seed, honey and livestock. With an abundance of rural and agricultural land and a combination of flatland, foothills and mountains, the Northeast is similar to a prairie landscape.
With close to 2.5 million acres in production, the Northeast region is the largest agricultural region in British Columbia, and home to some 1,800 farms, producing well over $100 million worth of product annually. The area has an optimal low-temperature growing season coupled with long hours of daylight, which make agricultural production successful.
Almost 90% of British Columbia's grain and 95% of Canola are produced in the Northeast. Farms in the Northeast enjoy the dual advantages of low land prices and low cost of production. The area’s proximity to west coast grain terminals is also a significant cost advantage. Areas of potential growth and diversification for the sector include livestock finishing, dairy and eggs, and expanded game farming.
Lots of natural gas under that BC prairie.