The trip is part of a broader strategic push by Canada to more closely align itself with China and reduce its reliance on the U.S. Mr. Harper aims to increase Canada's capacity to export oil and other resources to China, an effort that has intensified following the Obama administration's ecision to reject for now TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline, which would have shipped oil-sands crude from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. http://www.onwardjames.blogspot.com/2012/02/canada-china-free-trade-ethical-oil.html
Relations between Alberta and the American oil companies have never been good. If big oil was willing to pay Albertans a fair price for their resources, they would be selling them cleaner oil. Tarsands is a money-maker. It costs $40-50 barrel to produce this oil. Money that is invested directly into the Alberta economy, creating thousands of well-paying jobs. And paying the government of that province far more in tax revenues, then they ever got in royalties selling conventional oil. Conventional oil costs much less to produce, maybe $5-10 a barrel. And even though oil prices are well over $100 a barrel, the royalties countries get paid for those resources are miniscule. We're paying more for food, gasoline, transport, heating, manufactured goods, and everything else to do with oil, while the oil companies fight us tooth and nail on royalties.
Actually, conventional oil is very expensive as far as lift costs go in the US and Canada.. and VERY expensive with deepwater offshore extraction.. $5 a barrel is on the low side.. for OPEC producers.
You are wrong about oil companies and Alberta and the oilsands and the prices. Furthermore this thread is a bit more than that.
Most of the oil companies in Alberta have foreign owners or foreign majority ownership.. Their interest is to avoid taxes and maximized profits. They don't give a rat's behind about Canada or Canadians and neither does Harper. Fact is.. Canada has basically lost control of this natural resource.
Your blog is BS.. Look at the numbers and EXACTLY how much oil the US purchases from Canada versus how much oil Canada buys every day from OPEC and the North Se.
Let's review. Natural resources belong to the Provinces, not the Federal Government. That means that tarsands oil production is Alberta's business, and not Canada's. Since Alberta has no shoreline, the cost of producing conventional oil when it is located below the sea is a moot point. It is true that North America has higher lift costs than the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, where they only have to drill thru a few feet of sand. But as a source of energy security, Alberta is prime real estate. Unlike the United States, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are frozen most of the year. Instead of dis-assembling our rigs when moving from one hole to the next, we just drag them across the ice. The earth these enviro-retards are trying to protect is packed under 6 feet of ice. You can drive across the country in a 40 ton truck, and when the snow melts, there's no sign anyone was ever there. There's no oil in Lake Simcoe James. You don't have to worry about us peasants coming around your ivory tower.
America still buys more oil from Canada than from anyone else. Obama hasn't changed that, and neither will any subsequent president. We also buy a ton of oil from Mexico.
Canada is running out of farmland. Because we live in a cold climate, we have very little land suitable for growing fruits and vegetables, and these regions are being over-run by immigration. We also have to import more and more food to feed a growing population. Limousine Liberals love to talk about the "environment", but most of their foundations are funded by banks and big oil companies that favour population growth. And when it comes to sensitive issues like immigration, and its effect on the environment that the rest of us inhabit, they are silent. Limousine Liberals only complain about development and over-population when it affects them. Lake Simcoe, where James comes from, is full of liberals trying to escape the crime and filth of urban Ontario. They want their own little piece of paradise, but the rest of us can go to hell.
Actually the Saudi wells are very deep, thousands of feet deep and have been for 50 years.. they are just extremely efficient. I didn't know about the provinces.. how does Alberta feel about foreign ownership?
September 2011 Import Highlights: Released November 29, 2011 Monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in September 2011 has been released and it shows that three countries exported more than 1,000 thousand barrels per day to the United States. The top five exporting countries accounted for 69 percent of United States crude oil imports in September while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 88 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports. The top five sources of US crude oil imports for September were Canada (2,324 thousand barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1,465 thousand barrels per day), Mexico (1,099 thousand barrels per day), Venezuela (759 thousand barrels per day) and Nigeria (529 thousand barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Colombia (510 thousand barrels per day), Iraq (403 thousand barrels per day), Ecuador (299 thousand barrels per day), Angola (283 thousand barrels per day) and Russia (275 thousand barrels per day). Total crude oil imports averaged 9,006 thousand barrels per day in September, which is a decrease of (16) thousand barrels per day from August 2011. Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum in September, exporting 2,829 thousand barrels per day to the United States, which is an increase from last month (2,637 thousand barrels per day). ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/p...ons/company_level_imports/current/import.html The second largest exporter of total petroleum was Saudi Arabia with 1,479 thousand barrels per day.
This thread is about the recent trip to China by Right Honourable Stephen Harper who understands Statecraft. Regardless, PM Harper is cautious with China, and in his speeches he brought up Human Rights and Rule of Law. No matter, the Chinese will do business with anyone. However, America has been and remains to be our biggest and best trading partner. It's shameful were Obama and his czars are taking country. I have lived in America, Stamford, Connecticut, Marina Del Rey and Brentwood (Los Angeles area) California, have taken the train to Falstaff then a bus to the Grand Canyon, drove from Calgary to the West Coast and down US1 and have met so many terrific people. The kind of people who will not allow the leftists to ruin the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Canadians would rather do buisness with America, but Obama and his regime have become serious obstacles vis a vis Keystone Oil Pipeline and Ethical Oil from Alberta. For your information Ethical, for the oil purpose, means the culture of the country human rights policies, freedom of speech, and Rule of Law.
