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Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. said Thursday it has received enough support from its customers to go ahead with an 80-kilometre extension to its delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The firm said the Houston Lateral would increase the capacity of the pipeline — which has at least a year to go before U.S. regulators decide whether or not to approve the pipeline — to 830,000 barrels per day.
Instead of ending in Port Arthur, Texas, the pipeline will now reach into the Houston market as well. That will more than double the U.S. Gulf Coast refining market capacity the pipeline can access if it's approved.
"This significant demand and additional long-term customer commitments confirm the continued strong shipper support of TransCanada and the need for Keystone XL to move forward," said TransCanada CEO Russ Girling.
"Proceeding with the extension of the Keystone XL system to Houston and increasing capacity on the pipeline system will further enhance the connection of a secure, growing and reliable supply of Canadian crude oil and domestic U.S. crude oil with the largest refining market in North America, while providing additional flexibility to our shippers."
The Houston Lateral is within the original scope of the regulatory process that's currently underway, TransCanada said.
The U.S. State Department was originally set to announce its final decision by year-end, but in November decided more time was needed to weigh a new route for the pipeline to take through Nebraska, in order to avoid environmentally sensitive areas.
The department now expects to make its decision in early 2013. Based on that, TransCanada expects Keystone XL, including the Houston Lateral, to be in service by the end of 2014. Study supports new pipelines
TransCanada's announcement came the same day as a study by the University of Calgary suggested building oil pipelines to new markets would boost Canadian economic growth by $131 billion between 2016 and 2030.
The analysis by the university’s School of Public Policy tried to calculate what prices companies would get if pipelines existed to maximize the output from the oilsands in northern Alberta.
The study came amid a fierce debate not only over Keystone XL but also a proposal by Enbridge, also of Calgary, to build the Northern Gateway line, to run from the oilsands to the B.C. coast.
Gateway would carry oil to tankers for export to the U.S. and Asia.
Environmental organizations and some First Nations groups oppose Gateway because of the potential for pipeline leaks and tanker spills.
The study suggested the new pipelines would provide over $27 billion in federal, provincial and municipal tax revenue, and create 649,000 person-years of employment.
It said Alberta would be the biggest beneficiary, but that "most every single province and territory will realize fiscal and economic gains."
What most environmentalists don't understand is that Trans-Canada is a very environmentally conscious company. At least when they are building the line. (I can't speak about what happens about after construction). .
What happens after construction is ALWAYS the problem. Everything looks nice and shiny when it's being newly constructed.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Quote:
Originally Posted by earthlyfather
Aus10 has it right. The location is old and tired argument. Was the original route a good choice? Looks not. No one is perfect.
Canada is a friendly country. They did not attempt eminent domain. The contractors - U.S. companies - charged with building the pipeline did.
The choice is to work with a friend, or be at the mercy of enemies.
Personally, I think Trans-Canada has went above and beyond here. After three years of studies in which our own government said there was no problem, Trans-Canada has agreed to move the line basically for the people of one state. To ease their fears. And at what I'm sure is going to be great expense to them. And now, after working with those who opposed it, and hopefully finding a compromise that works for both sides, I don't understand why this is still such an issue? The XL line was planned a long time ago, well even before the original Keystone line went in. Too many people have just been jumping on the side of stopping it because they are frustrated with their own lives and are just looking for something or some way the show their displeasure with (*insert gripe here*).
The best question would be WHY NOT build it. Why not? Because the Obama administration wants its stranglehold on jobs to continue so more people depend on the government to provide sustenance.
Then you are for locking down our Southern border? Mexico - as a foreign country - is the conduit for all sorts of illegal immigration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
I'm sorry, but that's not how i read it in ANY piece on that story, and i've read several. This is mostly what i've read:
"Randy Thompson, a cattle buyer in Nebraska, was informed that if he did not grant pipeline access to 80 of the 400 acres left to him by his mother along the Platte River, “Keystone will use eminent domain to acquire the easement.” Sue Kelso and her large extended family in Oklahoma were sued in the local district court by TransCanada, the pipeline company, after she and her siblings refused to allow the pipeline to cross their pasture.
“Their land agent told us the very first day she met with us, you either take the money or they’re going to condemn the land,” Mrs. Kelso said. By its own count, the company currently has 34 eminent domain actions against landowners in Texas and an additional 22 in South Dakota."
So even if it was U.S. companies doing it, they were doing it on behalf of a foreign company. Please, let's not pretend that the Canadians are playing the nice guys here while American companies are doing their dirty work down here. Their hands are just as dirty.
Personally, I think Trans-Canada has went above and beyond here. After three years of studies in which our own government said there was no problem, Trans-Canada has agreed to move the line basically for the people of one state. To ease their fears. And at what I'm sure is going to be great expense to them. And now, after working with those who opposed it, and hopefully finding a compromise that works for both sides, I don't understand why this is still such an issue? The XL line was planned a long time ago, well even before the original Keystone line went in. Too many people have just been jumping on the side of stopping it because they are frustrated with their own lives and are just looking for something or some way the show their displeasure with (*insert gripe here*).
"Our own government" was a State Department study...hardly qualified to give this project any approval. And "one state" should be enough to make them move if the project was endangering something as important as water. Hell, one COUNTY is enough. As for the "great expense," too bad. Who else should pay for it? They should've done a better impact study in the first place.
Besides, i completely disagree that Trans-Canada went above and beyond. That's not true at all. They tried to align the stars in a way so that they could simply expropriate what they wanted regardless of how anyone felt about it. Moreover, they lied and are STILL lying about the amount of potential jobs benefit.
The best question would be WHY NOT build it. Why not? Because the Obama administration wants its stranglehold on jobs to continue so more people depend on the government to provide sustenance.
That's certainly one conclusion that you can come up with.
Or, you can actually be informed about the topic and not sound like a fool.
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