Saturday, September 1, 2012

Update on Keystone XL

Following the decision to kill Keystone XL, Canada said very publicly it would look for alternate markets for its Canadian oil sands crude. I posted a story some time ago, shortly after that, that the Chinese state oil company, CNOOC, had bought a chunk of the Athabasca.

Now today there is a report that another Athabasca deal is in the works. No one is talking, but rumors are Kuwait is buying a piece of the rock, or in this case, a piece of Athabasca

This, again, makes the Keystone XL less urgent for the Canadians. 

I'm probably making too much of this, but just my 2 cents worth.  It's just as likely the Kuwaitis, who know oil, simply see this as a great investment, knowing that the Keystone XL will eventually be built. Idle chatter. 

2 comments:

  1. Bruce, Does it make sense that it serves oil companies working the Bakken & mineral owners to approve the southern leg of the Keystone first to avoid excaserbating the glut in Cushing & thus further widen the Bakken WTI spread?

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    1. I don't follow, but regardless, it's not the oil companies or mineral owners that have any say in this. It's all up to the administration.

      I have no opinion about the Keystone XL (good, bad, or indifferent), but I do see the killing of the Keystone XL as a metaphor of this administration's attitude toward the oil and gas industry.

      Pushing the price of gasoline to nearly $5.00/gallon (double what it was four years ago) helps the administration's case for pushing for renewable energy (slicers and dicers, bankrupt solar companies).

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