Disappointed by the Obama administration's decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, the Canadian government has approved the construction of a major pipeline to deliver oil to Asia.
The Northern Gateway project will run 732 miles from the oil sands in landlocked Alberta across British Columbia to a new marine terminal in the Pacific Coast town of Kitmat, according to global news agency AFP.
It would transport about 525,000 barrels of oil daily for shipment across the Pacific to Asia, most likely to China.
If approved, the Keystone XL pipeline could carry 700,000 barrels a day from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "profoundly disappointed" that President Barack Obama has delayed a decision on the Keystone and added that Canada needed to diversify its oil exports, which now go almost entirely to the United States.
As long ago as December 2011, Harper disclosed that he had warned American officials that if Obama put the Keystone on hold, his government would ship Canadian oil to Asian markets
He told CTV News: "I am very serious about selling our oil off this continent, selling our energy products off to Asia."
But opponents in British Columbia have threatened to block the pipeline over fears that it would make the province vulnerable to an oil spill, damaging the scenic coastline, The New York Times reported.
About 220 large oil tankers would visit the Kitmat facility if the Northern Gateway project is built.
Enbridge, the company that would build the pipeline, must meet about 100 conditions imposed by a regulator before construction can begin, according to the Times.
The government's approval is predicated on Enbridge fulfilling those conditions.
According to AFP, the project will cost $7.3 billion.
get ready for $5.00 a gallon thanks to Democrats.
ReplyDeleteShould you be blaming Obamacrats?
ReplyDeleteWe have more oil than Saudi Arabia but Democrats won't let us drill our own oil because drilling is bad.
ReplyDeleteIt is just as evil as those rich people that shouldn't be allowed to have all that wealth when people who have never worked a day in their life don't have their fair share of someone else's money which they deserve simply for being born.