Keystone XL Would Raise Gas Prices, Report Finds

[Bozita]

Source: HuffPo


Keystone XL Would Raise Gas Prices, Report Finds
Lucia Graves
[email protected]
Posted: 05/22/2012 12:34 pm


WASHINGTON -- The Natural Resources Defense Council on Tuesday released a report dispelling the myth that the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would lower gas prices. Rather, the opposite is true, findings show.

On a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, report author and NRDC attorney Anthony Swift called the pipeline's impact on gasoline prices "one of the most misunderstood issues surrounding the proposed Keystone XL," adding that when TransCanada originally proposed the pipeline, they pitched it as a way to increase the cost of oil in the United States, providing increased revenue for Canadian producers. Since then, proponents of the pipeline in the United States have pitched it as a means of decreasing U.S. gasoline prices.

Swift's study examined these two conflicting claims, and findings suggest that the former is the true one. "Our study has found that Keystone XL is likely to both decrease the amount of gasoline in U.S. refineries for domestic markets and increase the cost of producing it, leading to even higher prices at the pump," Swift told reporters.

-snip-

The report found the pipeline will increase U.S. gasoline prices by three mechanisms, most immediately by reducing the amount of gasoline produced in the United States. The pipeline will divert crude oil from Midwestern refineries, which are designed to produce as much gasoline as possible from a barrel of oil, to Texas Gulf refineries, which are designed to produce as much diesel as possible from a barrel of oil. The result in the immediate to short term will be a decline in gasoline production and an increase in diesel, according to the report.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/report-keystone-xl-gas-prices_n_1536227.html

[xtraxritical]

1. Welcome to Koch country.

Vote Democratic.

[bluesbassman]

2. No wonder Rmoney wants to approve it his first day in office.

“I will build that pipeline if I have to myself,” Romney said last month.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/18/if-mitt-romney-is-elected-keystone-xl-will-be-approved-on-first-day-in-white-house/

Fortunately, I don't believe he'll have a first day in office.

[goclark]

3. Yep -- no wonder

[SpankMe]

4. Color me surprised. n/t

[liberal N proud]

5. Uncovering more republican lies

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. Huh? That doesn't even make sense

Keystone XL is the second part of a project that up to this point was not terribly controversial. The first phase of the Keystone project that terminates in Illinois has been operating since 2010 feeding primarily feeding the Wood River Refinery that produces 250,000 barrels of refined product at about a 70/30 split between gasoline and other fuels.

So... the eeevil oil men are going to build another all new pipeline just to cut out the one completed only two years ago?

The purpose of Keystone XL is to bring the diluted bitumen to the Houston area refineries where there are 3.5 million barrels a day of refining capacity. There is no other point in North America that comes close. The advantage to Canadian producers that is being twisted here is that Canadian oil has traditionally traded at a discount to WTI because of US export capacity constraints.

So both arguments are potentially true, improved continental market integration will erase the discrepancy between Canadian and US crude prices, while also adding to US supply - those prices themselves of course are in the hands of the speculators until such time as somebody says enough.

[DallasNE]

7. Where Does The Oil From North Dakota Go?

North Dakota has quietly moved into second place in oil production in America so that all needs to be shipped out too. Will that be merged in with oil from Canada and piped to Texas for shipment overseas as diesel or piped to midwestern refineries and refined into gas for domestic consumption?

We keep getting piecemeal reports, making it difficult to wrap our hands around what is really going on. It wouldn't make sense to build parallel pipelines with one branching over the the midwest refineries carrying North Dakota oil and the other (Keystone) veering south into Texas carrying Canadian oil. A lot of the Alaska oil went to Japan and it looks like a lot of the North Dakota oil will go to Europe and South America. Shouldn't this be part of the discussion too?

[may3rd]

9. not in american oil workers pockets it seems

somebody needs to MAKE JOBS puting americans back to work

but what needs to be done to "make jobs" happen again ?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. Primarily through the Enbridge system and by rail to Oklaholma

The first Keystone pipeline has already been built, Keystone XL is the second pipeline. The first Keystone pipeline serves the mid-west.

[may3rd]

8. oh look, yet another excuse to raise the price of crude

Never saw that coming, an excellent excuse to fill the foreign oil barons pockets

so they can raise the price of U.S. gasoline by only "two mechanisms"

BTW
how many mechanisms are in a dollar worth of gasoline already ?

[Bill USA]

10. the pipeline is going to La so oil can be made into diesel to be exported from duty free zone.

little to no domestic sales anticipated.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/11272486

[IamK]

12. The Natural Resources Defense Council is somewhat biased on the issue... n/t