Weyburn - Del Mondor, owner of Aldon Oils, has thoughts on each of the major pipeline projects facing Canada today. Here's what he has to say on the importance of pipelines, one of which could carry his own oil to market.聽
Keystone XL: 鈥淜eystone XL was a complete political evaluation and denial. There鈥檚 84 pipelines that go between Canada and the U.S. now. I don鈥檛 get what was wrong with the 85th.
鈥淒uring the time they evaluated the Keystone pipeline, the U.S. government approved pipelines 14 times in length of the Keystone pipeline. So it鈥檚 obviously a political thing. It鈥檚 not an environmental thing, when you start approving that many pipelines.
鈥淜eystone has been there for many, many years, but Keystone XL was a problem.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny how everyone was lined up against Canadian oil. I don鈥檛 want to get into conspiracy theories, but why not keep Canadian oil cheap? If you鈥檝e got into a situation where you鈥檝e cornered Canadian oil, and there鈥檚 a glut of it in Cushing, why not maintain that, so they can continue to pay a reduced amount for Canadian oil.
鈥淭he oilsands argument? Every day, or on a very regular basis, Venezuelan oil comes into the Gulf of Mexico. Where does Venezuela get their oil? From oilsands.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 blame them. I don鈥檛 blame the United States at all. But for us, we鈥檙e fools to peg our future or economic benefit on another country.鈥�
Northern Gateway: 鈥淣orthern Gateway is access to Asian markets. What government wouldn鈥檛 be interesting in assisting the enterprise of the country for the betterment of the country? Assisting in an environmentally and mechanically process in getting that done? I just don鈥檛 get it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real movement against pipelines in this country. There鈥檚 a real danger in that. For one thing, it doesn鈥檛 make environmental sense to have all this crude getting trucked; getting railed. The best thing you can do is put in a pipeline.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to your best market. If your best market is in Mandan, North Dakota, you鈥檙e going to go to it (by truck). The businessmen in the world are going to put it in the best spot possible.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a second problem with this anti-pipeline movement. The pipelines are getting older and older and older. (With) this refusal of getting pipelines built in this country, the risk of spills goes up. Environmentalists are actually creating an environmental danger. No one鈥檚 going to take a pipeline out of commission now. They can鈥檛 get the replacement built.
鈥淭he replacement of lines aren鈥檛 getting built. So now we鈥檙e getting into 50, 60, 70-year-old pipelines that should be replaced and are not being allowed to replace them. So what happens? There鈥檚 so much better technology now. Those pipelines should be renewed, replaced, to mitigate any potential issues.
鈥淭he stuff that鈥檚 being reported these days is just a function of better reporting. You want the pipelines to report better? Well here鈥檚 the information. Now you can鈥檛 handle the information. And now you鈥檙e saying these are a disaster. No, we鈥檙e just really good at reporting everything that goes on.
TransMountain Expansion: 鈥淭ransMountain Expansion you don鈥檛 hear a whole lot about. But as far as I know, they鈥檙e following the exact same pipeline right-of-way.
鈥淚 feel for Kinder Morgan. There鈥檚 a real movement. Rather than these people facing the reality of needing to be on airplanes and in cars and all of that, and, basically, saying its reality of crude oil is what it it, the environmentalists should be working with the pipelines to go, 鈥楴o, not there, but here.鈥�
鈥淏ut what they鈥檙e doing is saying 鈥楴o!鈥�
鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 a short-term line of thinking. Five, ten years, whatever. Eventually we鈥檒l get to the point where the government says, 鈥業t鈥檚 going there. We don鈥檛 need your input.鈥�
鈥淲hereas if the environmentalists said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not a good spot. Part of it is. Let鈥檚 do that instead.鈥�
Oh, okay, the pipeline companies are listening. You don鈥檛 have to listen very long to hear, 鈥楴o.鈥欌��
Energy East: (Which Aldon Oils could potentially ship oil on): 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real option. It鈥檚 a great option, and it鈥檚 a made-in-Canada solution. Why this is a much more of a made-in-Canada solution is it (will) provide oil where we鈥檙e actually importing oil into Canada. Saudi Arabia and other foreign countries are actually filling the refiners on the East Coast and down the St. Lawrence.
鈥淚t gives me another option for pricing. It will reduce the glut in Oklahoma. If we have more places to sell our crude, it will reduce the glut, thus making that discount on Canadian crude go away. Our oil could end up in anything from Sarnia to St. Johns.
鈥淚t think it鈥檚 going to get built. I like Energy East the best. Don鈥檛 forget, most of Energy East is just converting an existing pipeline. If you look at the map, it鈥檚 not minimal, but it鈥檚 a lot less than what you might think.
鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 the one. They could argue most of the crude is not even going to leave our coast. We鈥檙e just satisfying the needs of Canada, at a non-discounted price.鈥�
鈥淭his could someday be an issue of national security. If all of a sudden we get into a situation where Saudi Arabia or another producing nation does not want to deliver to St. John, the only way to get crude there is by rail. Think of the environmental risks of that.
鈥淐ome on. Start thinking, and stop listening to people that have an agenda which has nothing to do with pipelines.鈥�
