Now that we have oil galore and enough natural gas to last a century what's with tar sand?

[1-Old-Man]

Apparently they have found all the oil left on earth in the Dakotas. Natural gas prices have fallen to levels not seen since the 80's because of a massive field that extends from New York to Virginia. We are once again a net exporter of energy. So someone explain to me why we have to run a pipe line right down the middle of the country for the sole purpose of moving Canadian tar sand from western Canada to our Gulf Coast where it will be refined (leaving the pollution here with us) and from which it will be shipped round the world? How cum?

[CanonRay]

1. 'Cuz it's all bullshit;

they wouldn't be dredging up this crap tar sands oil if energy were truly plentiful. It's the bottom of the bottom of the barrell.

[RKP5637]

2. It's all bullshit!!! And awhile back there was all of the whining we were out of oil, then there

was the bullshit about not enough refining capacity, then the bullshit about we have an over supply, so we export ... and now the prices go up and up. This is one suckered county. It's hard to tell where one run of bullshit ends and the next one starts up.

[Angry Dragon]

3. Follow the money

If we have all this oil why are gas prices rising at the clip of 10 cents per day??

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Because Venezuela

Won't sell Charles and David Koch heavy crude. I'm not a brainiac about oil - but I do get the nuance of what is pulled from the earth.

For the Kochs to go on business as usual - they need a cheap supply of heavy crude. But Venezuela Won't sell it to the two Little Lords.

It's all about them - and nothing else. The Kochs want it - and so their way they shall get. Regardless of the actual INCREASE in the price of oil to folks north of the end point WITHIN the US. Regardless of Environmental Damage.

They want their 'fair share' and they have deemed it to be 'everything'.

[NickB79]

5. North Dakota's Bakken isn't THAT large

It has potential reserves of 2-3 billion barrels, which translates into less than ONE YEAR of global oil consumption. And also bear in mind that those 3 billion barrels are over the life of the field (ie 50 years or so), not all at once. It only produces 500,000 barrels per day, which sounds like a lot until you realize the US alone requires 20 MILLION barrels a day to operate.

The pipelines they want to put in place will transport not just Canadian tar sands oil, but also the Bakken field oil. North Dakota no longer has the capacity to ship out any more oil; they're to the point they're loading it onto railcar tankers now, which is the most expensive way to ship oil.

The simple fact is that global oil demand is at an all-time high, despite all the wind and solar that gets installed, because 2 billion Chinese and Indians want to emulate the US and enter the middle class, complete with the cars and mindless consumption we've so popularized over the past century here in America. And, instead of telling them how badly that model has fucked us up and leading by example to a better future, we're still driving big trucks, living in huge houses, and building suburbs.

That's why they'll build the Keystone XL.

[Burma Jones]

6. We're making nice with Canada

They want revenue, we want to make it easier for them to get it from us than the Chinese.

The Tar Sands WILL be developed unless the Canadians stop it, and they show no inclination to do so.

[moondust]

7. Profits.

My (very limited) understanding is that it is simply more profitable to build the pipeline to the refineries and shipping infrastructure in Texas than it is to build refineries and shipping infrastructure in Canada.

[kelliekat44]

8. Better question: What's with high oil prices???? nt