While I strongly support the effort to build pipelines to export oil to customers in both the USA and the Pacific Rim, this commentary does present a question about what our long term goals are here in Canada.
Is it possible that environmental pressure lobbies in the USA will result in the de-commissioning of oil refineries on the Gulf Coast in the long term. Is it possible that we need to have a contingency plan in place for that possibility?
While current economic analysis suggests that the placement of refineries is a balance between access to supply and access to markets, are long term trends in the US domestic market changing those past assumptions? Is it possible that in the long term, refining will need to occur closer to the source of inputs and away from populated centres?
At the end of the day, energy will move to where it is needed. The question is will it be crude, semi-refined product of finished products?
