Trans Canada Corp seeks approval for revised Keystone XL pipe line route

The U.S. State Department has confirmed that Trans Canada Corp has submitted a revised route application for the Keystone XL pipe line from the U.S. Canadian border to Steele City Nebraska.

Obama had rejected an earlier route after objections from Nebraska and environmentalists. No doubt the new route will avoid the environmentally sensitive areas critics had identified in the earlier route.

Republicans had been critical of Obama for rejecting the earlier plan. They claimed that the rejection has cost thousands of jobs. Yet even the state of Nebraska had been critical of the proposed route.

The State Dept. did not say how long a new review of the route would take. However, they did say that some of the earlier analysis could be applied to the new route. Even so, it will well into 2013 and well after the upcoming presidential election before a decision is made.

No doubt some environmentalists will be critical of the new route. Some environmentalists are simply against further development of oil from the Alberta Tar Sands because production of this oil is in itself environmentally destructive. However, the state of Nebraska may approve the new route. For more see this article.

Premier Stelmach in Washington Selling the Oil Sands

The oil drilling rig disaster has given Stelmach an opening to sell Washington on the virtues of tar sands oil. It may be dirty but it will not pollute U.S. coast fisheries and beaches! It will be interesting to see if Obama changes his mind about not importing dirty oil. Actually, I do not see why Stelmach is so concerned about marketing Tar Sands oil. If the U.S. will not use the oil certainly China and no doubt many other countries will buy it and probably at better prices into the bargain. This is from the Edmonton Sun.

Premier Stelmach in Washington
By LINDA HOANG, EDMONTON SUN



Premier Ed Stelmach has made a trip to Washington D.C. to convince American legislators they need Alberta oil.

The Premier met with U.S. senators in an effort to try and improve the image of Alberta's oil sands. He talked about how greener policies by the Obama government that could distance the U.S. from Alberta oil could be damaging for both sides.

"We have to ensure that U.S. legislators are aware of the impact their decisions have on Alberta and Canadian energy suppliers and the impact it might have on American workers," he said. "We must ensure that all interests in this legislation understand the risks to their economies."

Stelmach said the trip was positive and senators were aware of how important the Canadian oil supply is.

Three large oil sands projects approved in four months!

I really do not have the knowledge to comment much about the environmental impact of these projects but I did see a CBC documentary that present a lot of damaging data that should make regulators think twice about allowing development at an escalating pace such as this. Also, it seems absolutely stupid to allow developments with no value added features such as an upgrader. This just leaves the value added profits to the US where much of the production will be exported.

Regulators approve third large oilsands project in four months
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 | 2:29 PM MT
The Canadian Press
Imperial Oil's $7-billion Kearl oilsands mine received conditional approval from regulators Tuesday, making it the third massive new oilsands project to get the go-ahead in the last four months.

Imperial celebrated the "key approval" by provincial and federal regulators, but environmentalists said it proves no attention is being paid to the cumulative effects of oilsands development in northern Alberta.

The Kearl project, 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, will include four open-pit mines and related facilities to extract the gluey bitumen. It is expected to employ 2,000 people.

The first phase of the project aims at producing 100,000 barrels daily, with a potential to triple that output with expansions.

Imperial and its parent company ExxonMobil currently have no plans to build a new upgrader in Alberta, despite the province's aim to keep more of the value-added processing work.

The approval, following three weeks of public hearings last November, imposed 17 conditions on Imperial Oil, relating to environmental and technical aspects of the project.

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The panel also made eight recommendations to the federal government dealing with environmental issues such as water management and emissions technology.

It submitted 20 additional recommendations to the Alberta government, urging the province to address the lack of land, infrastructure and social resources in the booming Fort McMurray region.

The Kearl approval was released one day after the Alberta government unveiled plans to spend nearly $400 million on critical growth issues like health care, housing and water treatment in Fort McMurray.

Late last year, regulators gave the thumbs-up to Suncor Energy's $7-billion Voyageur oilsands expansion and to the $12.8-billion Athabasca oilsands expansion owned by Shell Canada, Western Oil Sands and Chevron Canada.

All the projects faced significant objections from First Nations, the regional municipality and environmental groups, said Dan Woynillowicz from the Pembina Institute, an environmental policy think-tank.

"And yet we've seen all three of those rubber-stamped, with nothing really new or innovative in terms of the conditions," Woynillowicz said.

The Pembina Institute said Imperial's Kearl project is not in the public interest because of the environmental damage and the lack of local value-added plans.

"This project is just about getting the bitumen out of the ground as fast as it can, with no focus on quality," Woynillowicz said.

"I think what this really illustrates for us is that the system for making decisions about oilsands projects is broken and it's not serving the best interests of either Albertans or Canadians."