Dear Editor:
The Kinder Morgan expansion project is poised for construction and soon there will be about 350 tankers loaded with bitumen moving under the Lions Gate Bridge every year.
Production of Alberta oil sands bitumen has doubled since 2005 and is set to almost double again by 2025. It is easy to understand that new pipelines like the Kinder Morgan expansion project are essential for moving this new production to market.
The federal government has determined the project to be in Canada’s national interest and it will spend more than $1.2 billion of taxpayer’s money to improve oil-spill response capability.
It is well known, however, that new Alberta oil sands projects require an oil price of $75 or more in order to break even.
These projects continue to be built despite the fact that the Brent oil price is currently only $52 a barrel and has averaged only $70 a barrel over the past 15 years. In view of the economics apparent, it is unclear to me why it would be in Canada’s national interest to support development of oil sands and pipeline infrastructure that is likely to produce little royalty or tax revenue but will impose massive risks to B.C. coastal waters and the B.C. economy. My MP has no satisfactory answer but perhaps one of your readers has some insight.
Doug Taylor
North Vancouver
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