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Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked.
This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio -
"You don't speak for me."
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“Speaking to a modest cluster of supporters after the win, Sherman referred to the oil sands as ‘dirty oil,’ the Calgary Herald reported.”
Not very bright!
So the Charlie Sheen of Alberta politics screws up, who could have seen that coming? Any conservative or people with brains, who else.
I can’t be too hard on Raj. We attended high school together in Squamish, BC, and he’s achieved quite a lot. We competed pretty well for the best grades and at a recent grad reunion he thanked me for pushing him so hard to achieve. Funnily enough, I thought “Why? Weren’t you achieving your own benefit?” I know I was.
Still, good for him for stepping up to try and make a difference even if he’s doing it under the wrong banner. I know I’d never do it. I don’t suffer fools gladly and Lord knows there’s plenty out there. My first press conference would have enough politically incorrect references to make Archie Bunker blush.
Posted by: doninanmore at September 14, 2011 1:00 AM
Gosh, hardly blame a fellow for thinking that your post wasn’t really about Ol’ Shermie.
But back to the topic: two steps out of the gate and he’s already lying. Oh well, isn’t necessarily a handicap…at least not here in Ontario.
Good news for Alberta RED Tories … another stupid liberal to draw attention from their mendacity.
The article sort of does almost have a point: why isn’t the oil being refined in Alberta?
Is a cross-country pipeline cheaper than a refinery?
Just wondering.
Speaking to a modest cluster of supporters
Looks like an editor deleted four letters to shorten the word to “cluster”.
Lickmuffin – The first thing that comes to mind is that Canada is too union friendly. One of the main reasons that coal is no longer king is that the coal unions in the US and Britain did such a good job of flexing their muscles every couple of years when contracts needed renewing that strikes (and supply disruptions) became an accepted part of dealing with coal. Oil (and its derivative diesel) didn’t have this problem, and was a comparable resource in terms of extraction costs and availability. Coal didn’t stop burning, nor become rare, it became undependable. Groups like the railroads couldn’t afford undependable suppliers, so they switched supplies instead. Of course there was a lot more going on than just that, but it might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Where did the Alberta Liberal Party find a phone booth for their convention?
There’s hardly any left anywhere these days.
Did anyone else notice that the author of the article actually tries to provide covering fire for the leader saying what he really meant – diverting attention away from the accusation that alberta oil is environmentally dirty and directing towards the bitumen export issue?
The publisher of the trade magazine might want to review the author’s performance…
…
As for bitumen exports – the cost of doing it is cheaper elsewhere – labour is too expensive and too scarce in AB. I Wish them godspeed – anything that increases ABs market share is good news.
This is exactly what we need…one more politician and one less doctor.
Sounds like that old John Lovitz character, the habitual liar.
Fred they didn’t need a telephone booth they used a phone and just to make it interesting they let anyone who wanted to vote, vote. Most people didn’t care and didn’t vote. The Alberta Liberals should have done their open phone balloting last time and they may have avoided the mistake that was David Swann.
Lickmuffin, pipelines would be required whether oilsands oil is refined in Alberta or somewhere else. The finished product isn’t going to magically materialize somewhere else. And one has to consider the number of different pipelines that would have to be built to accommodate the various products that come from oilsands oil. And one has to consider the volatility of some of the finished products…and one has to consider the costs of transporting all of those products and one has to consider whether there is unused capacity elsewhere. This “refine it here” comment is bumper sticker mentality…the reality is much more complex.
Furthermore, Shell had proposed to build a multi-billion dollar refinery in Sarnia….they pulled the plug on it in 2008 largely due to environmentalist and first nations resistance to the project.
Joey, there’s no unused refining capacity anywhere in N. America right now. All are running at as near 100% capacity as they can get without breaking. That’s the result of no new capacity having been built since the 1970s because of regulations and greeny/NIMBYs suing oil companies. Same reason Shell pulled the plug in Sarnia, same reason McGuinty pulled the plug on natural gas electric generation in the 905 area code.
Selling finished product to the Yanks makes -much- more sense economically than selling unrefined crude. For one thing, it flows better making it cheaper to ship. Then there’s the extended pipeline life from the not running sand through it, right?
Plus, why should we worry that their refineries are running less than 100%? We should take the money for doing the extra work. And would it kill us to make some steel for pipelines up here like we used to, instead of buying it from the Chicoms? I think not.
BTW, you can send more than one type of product through a pipeline. Gasoline can follow diesel, either can follow heavier or lighter grades. You just put a pig in the line and switch tanks. Sometimes they don’t even bother with the pig.
(For non-pipeliners, a “pig” is a plastic cylinder/cork looking thing that they stick in a pipeline and the fluid pushes it along.)
Sand isn’t topsoil, for one. Secondly, my understanding is that the bitumen has to be upgraded before it can be pipelined at all. It’s much too viscous to flow at normal outdoor temperatures…maybe if you steam-heated the entire pipeline.
So, no, they aren’t putting topsoil, or sand , into the pipelines. They are pipelining synthetic crude oil, which is a better product than some natural crudes. And from an efficiency standpoint, it make the most sense to have the refineries close to their markets, to minimize the cost of running the distribution chain.
Good news for Alberta RED Tories … another stupid liberal to draw attention from their mendacity.
Posted by: OMMAG at September 14, 2011 7:30 AM
A good one and right on the money.
wonder if anyone will bother to tell him the sand doesnt go with the bitumen . it gets put into those nasty tailings ponds so Green POS’s have a place to swim
You “refine it where you mine it types” should get together, sell stock in your upgrader and become fabulously wealthy. There is even a site with a permit and a bunch of vessels collecting rust to help get you kicked off.
Otherwise, keep an eye on the differental, it will tell you how economical or not it is to upgrade.
When we start selling our water to the States, i’m waiting for the howels from the luddites.
But sell it we will. Albertans like making money.
We work hard to that end.