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> Oil is all going to get transported by rail or truck. ... which is more expensive than transporting by pipeline, thus increasing the cost of oil, cutting the
by Analemma_ 5y ago
> Oil is all going to get transported by rail or truck.
... which is more expensive than transporting by pipeline, thus increasing the cost of oil, cutting the development of marginally-viable oil exploration projects, and hastening the point at which it is uncompetitive with renewables and killed. This is working exactly as intended.
- vetrom 5y agoYou could also stretch and call it an indictment of externalizing oil production costs. I'm aware that building and running a refinery is an extremely expensive operation, to the point where it isn't economical to either mobilize a refinery, or base them at the site of extraction. That said, running a refinery also has local costs that are usually externalized, in terms of local pollution and populace movement. Canada itself though has a fairly large amount of space, but perhaps a surfeit of people. Why doesn't TC energy (or other Canada producers) build a refinery somewhere in Canada and transport to there?
- hajile 5y agoAlternatively, it could just encourage fracking and refining closer to the delivery point. Smaller economies of scale would be offset by lower transport cost. At the same time, pollution would likely increase. The only real lever the government has is increasing fuel taxes, but that would result in roots from people who are barely making it before massive increases in transportation costs.