Focus on Enbridge -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

See disclaimer on the right; this is not an investment site.

I have accumulated shares in Enbridge for quite some time. Somehow I missed buying shares in TransCanada (Keystone XL); just one of those dumb-luck stories.

Link here.

Washington's decision to delay approval, which could end up killing the project, followed a campaign by protesters who complain oil sands crude is particularly energy intensive to extract, creating huge carbon emissions. They also point to a possible environmental disaster if the pipeline broke.

Keystone XL is one of two projects that oil sands producers have been counting on to increase financial returns by delivering to markets other than the oversupplied U.S. Midwest. Canada currently exports about 2 million barrels of oil a day, almost all of it to the United States.

Focus now turns to Enbridge Inc's ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline across the Rocky Mountains to Canada's Pacific Coast, where more than half a million barrels of crude a day could be loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asia. [One half million barrels of crude is the entire daily output of the Bakken right now.]

"(There's) obviously growing energy demand in Asia as the economies continue to grow, and Canada will be looking for a buyer," said Sara MacIntyre, a spokeswoman for Harper.

Asked whether the Keystone delay might accelerate efforts to look for Pacific markets for tar sands crude, she told reporters: "It could be part of the discussions."

Wow.   

The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project involves a new twin pipeline system running from near Edmonton, Alberta, to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia to export petroleum and import condensate.

I'm glad they kept it north of the border. If you think it's hard getting a pipeline across Nebraska, imagine the fun getting it across the US Rocky Mountains.

After this administration it will take another decade for the US to catch up with Canada. If we're lucky. It could get worse.