Most producers are struggling just to cover operating costs forget about paying off billions of dollars invested in strip mines and bitumen refineries.
The so-called Keystone XL pipeline would essentially bisect the United States to bring the tar substance (bitumen) to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
In an economy dominated by services, Mr Harper and his Conservative Party have cast themselves as champions of the oil industry, which is centred in Alberta, his adopted home province.He pulled Canada out of the Kyoto protocol on climate change and promoted the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry Alberta bitumen to refineries in the southern United States.
However, because of their high viscosity at reservoir conditions compared to conventional light crude oils, conventional pipelining is not adequate for transporting heavy crude oil and bitumen to refineries without reducing their viscosity (Ahmed et al. 1999).
At the same time, the Obama administration is reviewing the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that would send more oil sands bitumen to American refineries and correspondingly increase the amount of American petroleum coke.
The truth about this project is that a Canadian company wants to run this pipeline through the heartland of the United States for the purpose of transporting the toxic sludge known as tar sands bitumen to Gulf of Mexico refineries.
That was the day Enbridge's 40-year old pipeline had its flow reversed to bring western crudes, like light Bakken and tar sands bitumen, to eastern refineries and shores.
Additionally, it is difficult to transport heavy oil and bitumen via pipeline to refineries without the addition of diluents or pipeline heating which incurs additional cost.
The organizations argue that a variety of potential problems await the proposed $7 billion pipeline, which would deliver a heavy form of crude oil extracted from a thick mixture of sand, clay and bitumen in Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
I've got nothing against the passions of those — including friends of mine — pushing hard to persuade President Obama not to let the Keystone XL pipeline move forward and carry bitumen from Canadian deposits to United States Gulf Coast refineries.
