"As it is illegal to sell oil from the Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline to foreign countries, I believe your hypothesis is incorrect."
Nope, there is no such restriction for the *new* ANWR pipeline that was approved. Congress voted the 'America only' restriction DOWN.
(Of course, we knew THAT was inevitable when they *turned down* the free offer from Canada for a right-of-way to run a pipeline to the US midwest.... JUST LIKE in the 1970s when the trans-Alaska pipeline was debated in the US Congress, and they turned down the same type of 'free right-of-way offer' from Canada THAT TIME.)
In that 1070s era debate, US oil executives *promised Congress* that 'all oil would be sold to the US'... A few years later when the pipeline was in, and oil shipping through Valdez terminal, and Congress found out that they had been LIED TO, and most of the oil was going to Japan [where the oil companies received a better price], Congress got pissed-off and passed that ban that you referred to above.
Since there is NO BAN with the new pipeline... and the economic conditions affecting North Slope oil are pretty much the same now, I expect a repeat: much of the ANWR oil will be sold in Asian markets. This time, it will be CHINA & Japan.
"At any rate, Canada is ramping up its Oil Sand capacity, which will probably be piped directly to Mid Western refineries."
Nope, probably VERY LITTLE of that will go to midwest refineries --- they are not equiped to handle that bitumin, few refineries are.
Anyway --- Canada just announced major Chinese government partnership in a NEW PIPELINE to take oil sands oil to British Columbia... where it will be loaded on tankers and sold to China.
"Therefore, any increase in production traveling through the Alaskan pipeline that the Far West couldn't use, would indeed be transported through the Panama Canal"
Nope, as I explained: transit costs (just raised by Panama) make it far TOO EXPENSIVE to send Alaskan oil to our Gulf Coast refineries (not to mention that the bigest tankers won't even fit through the canal anymore) --- it's *much more* profitable to sell it in Asian markets.
It's more economic for the Gulf refineries to import oil from west Africa and Venezuela. |
