The Canadian Press reports, “The proposed Energy East pipeline won’t be the boon to Eastern Canadian refineries that supporters claim because the vast majority of the oil in it would be bound for export markets, environmental groups argue in a report being released Tuesday. The $12-billion project would likely use the lion’s share of its 1.1 million barrel per day capacity to send unrefined oilsands crude to markets like India, Europe and possibly the United States, says the report, penned by The Council of Canadians, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Defence and Equiterre.”
“Backers in industry and government have said Energy East will help ailing refineries in the East – reliant on high-cost crude from abroad – by connecting them with a stable, low-cost supply from Western Canada…. But Tuesday’s report says the three refineries along the Energy East route – Suncor Energy’s in Montreal, Valero’s near Quebec City and Irving’s in Saint John – have a combined capacity of 672,000 barrels per day. Of that, the groups figure 550,000 barrels per day can come from elsewhere – offshore crude in Atlantic Canada, booming U.S. shale resources and, eventually, via Enbridge Inc.’s recently approved reversed Line 9 pipeline between southwestern Ontario and Montreal. That leaves just 122,000 barrels per day of refining capacity that can be served by Energy East, the report says.”
The news report notes, “The proposal also includes export terminals in Quebec and Saint John, N.B., from which some of oil can be sent overseas by tanker, getting producers a better price for their crude.”
Adam Scott with Environmental Defence says, “It’s just not true that Eastern Canada’s going to benefit in the way that TransCanada’s saying they are. And when you look and see that this is a project about putting vast quantities of oil onto tankers and shipping them out of the country, people who are convinced that ‘this is going to mean more local jobs for me’ are going to be very disappointed.”
Read the 7-page report – Transcanada’s Energy East: An Export Pipeline, Not For Domestic Gain.
The Council of Canadians opposes the Energy East pipeline. Find out more about our April 7-28 tour to six communities in Ontario to strengthen community opposition to this pipeline.
Further reading
An Energy East export port on the St. Lawrence River?
Irving Oil sees Saint John terminal as ‘key export point’
Energy East pipeline could export tar sands oil to India
