Canada Looks to China
In the face of President Obama’s killing of the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian officials in Ottowa are looking to China for their tar sands oil exports.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday said the “decision by the Obama administration underlines the importance of diversifying and expanding our markets, including the growing Asian market.”
Harper “expressed his profound disappointment with the news,” according to the statement, which added that Obama told Harper the rejection was not based on the project’s merit and that the company is free to re-apply.
98% of Canada’s oil exports go to the U.S., a figure Harper wants to reduce in order to secure the future of the Canadian energy industry. Oil production from landlocked Alberta tar sands is expected to double over the next 8 years, prompting officials to seek new export markets. The building of the Keystone XL pipeline was the first effort to expand Canada’s ability to market its oil worldwide, through the U.S.
The Keystone decision is the latest of several U.S. moves that have irked Canadian policy makers. Canada objected to “Buy American” provisions in the Obama administration’s $447 billion jobs bill that was blocked by Republicans in Congress, as well as the restoration of a $5.50 fee on Canadian travelers arriving in the U.S. by plane or ship.
