Ecuador court gives green light for Silvercorp, Salazar’s El Domo project
The ruling removes the last major obstacle for the $250 million project, located 150 km northeast of Guayaquil.
Reuters reports the US move to put off a decision on TransCanada Corp’s proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 18 months is a significant blow for Ottawa, which has strongly backed the project.
The Canadian government and the Alberta oil industry will now turn their attention to the Northern Gateway pipeline project that would stretch for 1,170km from Brudenheim in Alberta to a new marine terminal in northern British Columbia to serve Asian markets. But the $5.5 billion project which has significant Chinese backing, is already almost a year behind schedule and would not go into operation in 2017 at the soonest. Even this schedule is optimistic: starting in January, an unprecedented 4,000-plus people – the vast majority environmental activists – will speak for a collective 650 hours at public hearings.
Reuters quotes Sara MacIntyre, a spokeswoman for Canadian Prime Minister Harper on the Northern Gateway: “(There’s) obviously growing energy demand in Asia as the economies continue to grow, and Canada will be looking for a buyer.” The pipeline will have the capacity to export approximately 525,000 barrels of oil per day and import approximately 193,000 barrels of condensate a day to a new marine terminal where up to 200 tankers per year would carry crude to market in China, Singapore and Korea.
MINING.com reported at the end of October the US state department’s anonymous leak to the media lowering expectations about a decision on Keystone this year should not have come as a surprise to anyone following Barack Obama’s poll numbers or the increasing bitterness on the left about his perceived closeness to industry.
Apart from environmental campaigners and clean energy proponents other players may also be rejoicing at the delay, which may well turn out to be permanent: MINING.com has argued that if Keystone XL is built the biggest losers will not be the Greens, it will be Big Oil: Keystone XL should bring Canadian crude, which at the moment sells at a $30 discount, in line with global prices. At the same time a huge slice of the record profits of Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil will we wiped out. Here’s why.
8 Comments
Endangered Coast
Pipeline into the BC coast and supertankers? not as long as there is over 70% opposition from the West Coast “residents”!!!
happy
Build it now or build it later the pipelines that carry the resource to markets still need to be built.
supermin
If the US does not take the Canadain oil it will all go to China
Mrkhrdr
It would probably be exported to China anyway. If we were going to buy it we could still ship it from the BC port to here. It’s going to Asian countries from CA because that was the plan all along. The losers are the folks who would be employed in the US in the oil shipping business.
Charles Mccully
to hell with u s refine our oil to keep the jobs in canada then sell to who ever wants it
Emarteye
Edward Marteye
I’m Environmentalist, but I single this very Project out, why? because it make no sense for the Government to reject the Project at these era of our time where Employment is difficult and the Country is in Debt. Secondly, any Country who takes over the Project will in turn process the Oil the same way we’re and resale it to us, it makes no sense. I need a job now.
Mrkhrdr
I also consider myself an environmentalist; but I dislike the tactic of pretending to oppose one thing when the issue is another thing entirely. The issue in this case is the pollution caused in Alberta by oil sands extraction. Pipeline opposition was seen as a way to oppose the oil sands industry in another sovereign nation. It’s a stupid tactic for a couple of reasons: First, the ending of the pipeline project has only changed the routing of the oil. It’s done nothing to inhibit the mining itself. Second: It turns the public against the environmentalist position. We end up looking like liars and fools. Which, sadly, is what some of us are.
Second Orion
It will be needed regardless. One way or another. It would be nice if environmentalists could do without for a while -then they could all scream the other way. -They would build that pipeline themselves and beg for something to go through it.