Kinder Morgan announces suspension of Trans Mountain expansion

[Cliffy]

 

[Twin_Moose]

Alberta Cut to Oil Shipments Would Ripple Across West Coast

Alberta’s plan to cut crude and fuel shipments to British Columbia could ripple across the entire west coast of North America, causing pump prices to surge and shifting the flow of international crude.
Legislation introduced Monday would allow oil-rich Alberta to curb the flow of crude and fuel if neighboring British Columbia doesn’t drop its opposition to Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The existing pipeline supplies the Vancouver area with as much as 60 percent of its refined products.
If Alberta makes good on its threat, Vancouver drivers can expect to pay more at the pump. So too might people in Washington state and Oregon if the region’s refineries were to face a curtailment of Canadian oil shipments down the Puget Sound pipeline. Even Alberta’s own producers and refiners would take a hit, cutting off a key export link at a time when a pipeline bottlenecks have caused a glut and reduced the value of heavy oil-sands crude.
Vancouver Shortages
British Columbia would be the first to feel the the hurt if flows from the Trans Mountain pipeline are cut. The province imports more than half of its refined fuels, including gasoline, from Alberta, which also supplies Vancouver’s only refinery, Parkland Fuel Corp.’s Burnaby plant. The refinery accounts for a quarter of British Columbia’s transportation fuel.
“We cannot operate the refinery at full capacity without the Trans Mountain pipeline,” Annie Cuerrier, spokeswoman, said in an email.

Without supply from Alberta or the Parkland refinery, more than two thirds of the province’s fuel supply could be interrupted and would have to be made up with imports, said Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. But Vancouver area import terminals “were not designed to replace, compensate for the dramatic loss of that substantial amount of fuel,” he said.
That could send the price of gasoline in Vancouver north of C$2 a liter ($6.02 a gallon), up from about C$1.50 now. On Tuesday, Saskatchewan’s Premier Scott Moe said in a twitter message that his province would join Alberta by introducing its own legislation to cut oil exports.
READ: Kinder Pipeline Battle Escalates as Alberta Readies Oil Embargo
Parkland’s refinery also supplies 40 percent of the jet fuel at Vancouver International airport via a 40-kilometer pipeline that runs directly to the airfield, according to the Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corp., which represents the carriers using the airport. The airport imports the rest of its needs from BP Plc’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington state by barge and tanker trucks.
"If one of these refineries shut down for an extended period, airport and airline operations would be jeopardized," it says on its website. It didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
U.S. Effects
A jump in Vancouver prices may be felt all the way down in Los Angeles, if traders ship suddenly cheaper gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from California refineries up north.
In Washington state, refiners that receive the bulk of oil moving down the Trans Mountain pipeline via the connecting Puget Sound line would also take a hit if shipments through the line that were cut or curtailed. The state’s five plants have the capacity to process more than 600,000 barrels a day and relied on Canada for about 35 percent of their crude supply in the first ten months of 2016, according to a report by Morningstar Commodities Research.
“You would have a spike in fuel costs but how long-term that is depends on how quick the Washington refineries could respond,” Mark Oberstoetter, lead analyst for upstream research at Wood Mackenzie in Calgary, said by phone. “It would take several months.”
A representative for Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. declined to comment.
The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association said in a statement that its concerned about “longer-term, unintended consequences for industry and the public at-large” should oil shipments be curtailed. “We hope that the measures will not need to be implemented and that we are able to find a prompt resolution to the current impasse that reflects the needs and concerns of industry and other stakeholders.”
While Washington refiners have access to seaborne shipments as well as Bakken crude sent by rail, spare crude supplies are scarce on the international market and “it will require quite a lot of logistical hoop jumping” to replace Canadian barrels, Sandy Fielden, director of research and commodities for Morningstar Inc. in Austin, Texas. “They could probably get the crude but it will have a big disruptive impact.”
Alaskan crude supplies are limited and many large foreign suppliers have caps the the volume of crude they have available to make up for disruptions, he said.
Tanking Price
But cutting off oil shipments would hurt Alberta, too. The province’s oil pipelines have filled to capacity amid a surge of new oil-sands production earlier this year. A halt to flows would only aggravate a pipeline bottleneck that’s caused the Canadian crude price to sink this year.
The price of Canadian heavy crude fell to a greater than $30 discount to WTI futures in February, the biggest discount since 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Alberta’s light crude oil, the grade Trans Mountain mostly transports, has also been hurt by the bottleneck with the price of Edmonton mixed sweet trading at a $7 discount to WTI versus an average discount of $2.65 last year.

I disagree with this article to the point that Alta. would shut down all shipments of crude and fuel, it would just shut down deliveries to B.C. they want to punish B.C. not Kinder Morgan.

 

[Hoid]

If they wanted to get BC on their side they would announce a price guarantee where BCs gas prices would be the same as Calgary's.

Threatening the people who already pay the highest gas prices in North America with high gas prices?

Whatev

 

[Twin_Moose]

If they wanted to get BC on their side they would announce a price guarantee where BCs gas prices would be the same as Calgary's.

Threatening the people who already pay the highest gas prices in North America with high gas prices?

Whatev

And who's fault is it that they pay higher prices than the rest of the country? get rid of carbon tax, lower provincial taxes on fuel, encourage more refineries to set up, set up more storage, would help you to get in step with the prairies on cost.

 

[Hoid]

And who's fault is it that they pay higher prices than the rest of the country? get rid of carbon tax, lower provincial taxes on fuel, encourage more refineries to set up, set up more storage, would help get you to get in step with the prairies on cost.

Alberta will do nothing with threats other than prop up the opposition to their pipeline dreams.

People don't like to be threatened.

 

[Mowich]

Alberta will do nothing with threats other than prop up the opposition to their pipeline dreams.

As recent polls have shown, ABs threat to slow the flow of petroleum products to our province have had the opposite effect. heh, heh, heh
What really surprised me is that on Vancouver Island - a known hot-bed of anti-everything econuts, support for the extension is higher than opposition to it. heh, heh, heh

People don't like to be threatened.

No they don't Hoid, which is why Horgan's stance on the extension is seen as a threat to the national good and thus is being soundly denounced.

 

[petros]

Alberta Cut to Oil Shipments Would Ripple Across West Coast

I disagree with this article to the point that Alta. would shut down all shipments of crude and fuel, it would just shut down deliveries to B.C. they want to punish B.C. not Kinder Morgan.

Everything would go to Anacortes WA.

 

[JLM]

You can't blame Notley for any of this..............She has oil, the Chinese want it and she is just trying to get it there! Can it be put much simpler than that?

 

[Cliffy]

 

[Mowich]

If they wanted to get BC on their side they would announce a price guarantee where BCs gas prices would be the same as Calgary's.

Threatening the people who already pay the highest gas prices in North America with high gas prices?

Whatev

AB has zero control over the price set at the pumps in BC.

Pump prices determined by geopolitical turmoil as well as number of operating refineries

"Prices across the country vary widely because of different provincial and territorial tax regimes."

Gas prices: Here's how they determine what you pay at the pump | CBC News

 

[Cliffy]

Oil sands found to be a leading source of air pollution in North America

A cloud of noxious particles brewing in the air above the Alberta oil sands is one of the most prolific sources of air pollution in North America, often exceeding the total emissions from Canada's largest city, federal scientists have discovered.
The finding marks the first time researchers have quantified the role of oil sands operations in generating secondary organic aerosols, a poorly understood class of pollutants that have been linked to a range of adverse health effects.
The result adds to the known impact of the oil sands, including as a source of carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. It also comes on the same day that the Bank of Canada delivered a sobering message about the country's economy, saying the devastating Alberta wildfires that hit Fort McMurray – leading to production cuts in the oil industry and the destruction of thousands of buildings – will cause a drop in Canada's gross domestic product in the second quarter.


Given the economic circumstances and the political sensitivities currently surrounding the oil sands, the air pollutant study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, offered the strongest test yet of the Trudeau government's promise to allow scientists in federal labs to speak freely with journalists about their results.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...r-pollution-in-north-america/article30151841/

 

[Hoid]

Also produces the plastic that is killing the ocean.

 

[DaSleeper]

Blames the plastic maker instead of the turkey that throws it in the garbage instead of the recycle bin......
No wonder Liberals have everything ass backwards....

 

[petros]

oil sands found to be a leading source of air pollution in north america

a cloud of noxious particles brewing in the air above the alberta oil sands is one of the most prolific sources of air pollution in north america, often exceeding the total emissions from canada's largest city, federal scientists have discovered.
The finding marks the first time researchers have quantified the role of oil sands operations in generating secondary organic aerosols, a poorly understood class of pollutants that have been linked to a range of adverse health effects.
The result adds to the known impact of the oil sands, including as a source of carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. It also comes on the same day that the bank of canada delivered a sobering message about the country's economy, saying the devastating alberta wildfires that hit fort mcmurray – leading to production cuts in the oil industry and the destruction of thousands of buildings – will cause a drop in canada's gross domestic product in the second quarter.


Given the economic circumstances and the political sensitivities currently surrounding the oil sands, the air pollutant study, published wednesday in the journal nature, offered the strongest test yet of the trudeau government's promise to allow scientists in federal labs to speak freely with journalists about their results.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...r-pollution-in-north-america/article30151841/

published may 25, 2016

 

[JLM]

Are we getting slightly melo dramatic?

 

[Hoid]

HSBC announces it will no longer finance oil sands/coal/off shore drilling projects.

Very encouraging development, and much in line with banks not financing assault weapon manufacturers.

The sort of action that works.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...lants-oil-sands-arctic-drilling-idUSKBN1HR1NR

 

[petros]

Oh how nice. The money launders aren't investing drug money in Oil Sands. Say it ain't so!

 

[Cliffy]

Spill after spill after spill ...does not get this guy's vote for Kinder Morgan and the safety of the pristine BC coast !!

An estimated 5 million litres of bitumen, water and sand spilled in northern Alberta. One of the biggest in history. Only found by accident. And it was a relatively new double pipe with fail safes that failed.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/mobile/video?clipId=659398

Ya, fukk Kinder Morgan.

 

[petros]

It's far from pristine.

 

[JLM]

Blames the plastic maker instead of the turkey that throws it in the garbage instead of the recycle bin......
No wonder Liberals have everything ass backwards....

Yep, same mentality as with the guns..............identical!