Dear Editor:
Alberta says they need the Kinder Morgan pipeline to obtain a better price for their oil and to attract investment to their province.
They blame their economic woes on regulations and lack of pipeline access to world markets. Their real problem is the $50 oil price and the oil industry’s reluctance to invest in new oilsands facilities that will require a $75 oil price just to break even.
Alberta needs to find new, innovative ways to utilize their oilsands resource so they can derive more value from it. Their track record to date is dismal. The value of their heritage fund is less than two per cent of Norway’s oil fund, a difference that is hard to comprehend since total production from the oilsands has been 50 per cent of Norway’s production over the past 20 years.
Building the Kinder Morgan expansion pipeline will do nothing to improve the fundamental poor economics of new Alberta oilsands projects. It will, however, very significantly increase the risks to Western Canada’s coastline and to the B.C. economy.
Doug Taylor
North Vancouver
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