Quote:
Originally Posted by detamble13
The current situation should increase pressure to revitalize the Keystone XL pipeline. I'm not saying it will but any dependence on Russia should be replaced by another source.
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Keystone XL won't help US gas prices. Note how much oil we import from Canada. Now note how much refined product we export to Canada. The US is a net exporter of petroleum products but a net importer of crude oil. Basically, we buy oil from other countries when it's cheaper to buy then it is to extract. We then make that oil into more valuable products and sell them.
Keystone XL would not increase domestic gasoline supply and would not create many permanent jobs in the US. It would actually put downward pressure on existing domestic oil production and would potentially cost us jobs. It is a much better deal for Canada than it is for the US. They get the permanent jobs and get to export much of the risk. Ask yourself this: If it's such a good deal, why doesn't Canada refine it there instead of pumping it half a continent a way...and then buying the refined products?
We are not dependent on Russian Oil. We can be self sufficient by simply not exporting refined products or by buying more from other sources. As oil prices go up, it becomes economical to exploit more of our own reserves, as sales price must be above extraction cost to turn a profit. Europe can't, even if they could get the oil out of the ground for free. They just don't have the reserves in Western Europe to exploit even if they sucked every bit of oil they have discovered out of the ground it wouldn't match a single year of Saudi's output. They *have* to import, and geography says the Middle East or Eastern Europe/Asia is where they'll get the majority of it.