Oil Sands & Keystone XL
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How is oil sands crude obtained, and how is it processed?
Answer:
Oil sands are naturally-occurring geologic formations that contain a mixture of water, clay, sand and thick, heavy oil called bitumen. Oil sands are found throughout the world, including in Canada, our neighbor to the North. Currently, there are two different methods used to produce oil sands―surface mining and in-situ.
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How important is oil sands to America’s energy future?
Answer:
Our nation needs more supplies of all energy sources―including oil and natural gas―to meet growing energy demand and provide consumers with reliable fuel supplies.
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Will China purchase Canada's oil sands crude if the Keystone XL pipeline isn’t built?
Answer:
Following Pres. Obama's decision to reject the Keystone XL permit, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is looking to ship oil sands crude to Asian markets and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in February 2012.
Shipping oil sands to Asian markets is a loss for American job creation, the U.S. economy and overall U.S. energy security for years to come.
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Does the oil sands production process permanently damage the land on which it takes place?
Answer:
By law, oil sands development areas have to be restored to their natural state by Canadian companies operating there. Moreover, $2 billion investments have been made in carbon capture and storage technology to further reduce GHG emissions. Canadian oil producers and the government have laid out a comprehensive strategy to protect the environment while extracting oil sands.
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Does the extraction and use of oil sands crude produce more greenhouse gas emissions than that of other kinds of oil?
Answer:
Oil sands extraction and processing―like all minerals development―requires energy, which results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, on a life cycle (or well-to-wheels) basis, emissions from Canadian oil sands are comparable with other crudes refined in the United States. The average for oil sands imported into the United States is only 6 percent higher than the average crude consumed in the United States. Between 70 and 80 percent of GHG emissions come when fuel is burned.
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Won’t most of the Keystone XL pipeline jobs be short-term?
Answer:
The Keystone XL pipeline is the largest shovel-ready project around, but the construction and permanent jobs it would create get little credit from people who oppose the pipeline or the Canadian oil sands crude it would carry. TransCanada has reported that the Keystone XL project will create 20,000 new jobs, and has even broken down that number to account for the welders and clerks that the project requires.
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Will the proposed Keystone XL pipeline be safe? What is being done to prevent spills/leaks?
Answer:
Pipelines have long been recognized as one of the safest, most reliable and well-regulated ways to transport crude oil and petroleum products. Built to the most advanced specifications and monitored and maintained by state-of-the-art technologies, the 1,661-mile Keystone XL pipeline would be no exception.
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How will bringing in Canadian oil benefit the US economy?
Answer:
Developing Canadian oil sands is a capital intensive endeavor, requiring billions of dollars of investment over the next several decades. This investment will give rise to a long-lived, robust period of increased economic activity in Canada. And due to the deep and rich trading relationship between Canada and the United States, the United States will also get significant economic benefits from this increased activity, according to a Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) study. The benefits will manifest themselves in terms of increased economic output, GDP and job creation. By the numbers, full Canadian oil sands development and utilization would result in $775 billion to the U.S. GDP as well as 500,000 new U.S. jobs by 2035.
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Won’t Canadian oil just be exported to other countries after it is refined here? How does that provide the U.S. with any economic benefit?
Answer:
Currently, more than 90 percent of the on-road transportation fuel refined in the United States is used in America. The less than 10 percent of on-road motor fuel that is exported consists primarily of heavier products that aren’t in high demand here. There’s no evidence this ratio will change with increased supplies of oil sands crude.
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How many pipelines do we have in the United States?
Answer:
The nation’s 170,000 miles of petroleum transmission pipelines are the primary means of moving crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products to consumer markets. They move crude oil from oil fields on land and offshore to refineries where it is turned into fuels and other products, then from the refineries to terminals where fuels are trucked to retail outlets. The oil and gas industry remains committed to continuous improvement in pipeline safety, while efficiently delivering more than 70 percent of the petroleum needed to run our country each year.
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