Publications: Notes at the Margin

R.I.P. Keystone XL (November 21, 2011)

 

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast is dead. This is the best possible outcome. The pipeline represents one of the most outrageous attempts to rip off US consumers. It would have destabilized the oil market over the long term. Now, it has been killed. The savings to the United States from the cancelation will be considerable. The failure to build Keystone will cut our balance of payments deficit with Canada by $5 to $8 billion annually for many years to come. Keystone’s demise will bring about a rational approach to Canadian crude distribution as producers there will need to develop a sensible strategy for exporting Alberta’s crude supplies. In short, the pipeline issue was not about economic security, it was about economic rents.

 

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