Obama, anti energy left wrong about Keystone crude

Fuel Fix:

Most of the heavy Canadian crude slated to flow through the Keystone XL pipeline would be refined inside the U.S., and the resulting gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products would be consumed domestically too, according to a new analysis.

The report from consulting firm IHS debunks a major argument of Keystone XL’s detractors, who have cast the project as an “export pipeline” that would only ferry crude through the U.S. en route to other countries.

But IHS notes that Gulf Coast refiners are particularly hungry for the heavy crude that would come out of Canada. The bitumen extracted from Alberta, Canada’s oil sands — diluted to flow through Keystone XL — is likely to displace heavy high-sulfur crudes now imported from Venezuela and Mexico, IHS said.

Although the U.S. has been exporting record amounts of refined petroleum products, most of the gasoline, diesel and other products produced from Keystone XL crude will stay inside the country, IHS found.

“The overwhelming majority of refined products produced in the Gulf are consumed in the U.S., regardless of the crude source,” said Aaron Brady, senior director of IHS Energy. “Regardless of whether the oil is imported from Canada or Venezuela, the overwhelming majority of the refined products produced in the Gulf will continue to be consumed in the United States.”
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This is more evidence of the bad faith arguments used by opponents of the pipeline.  It also shows how they are putting their anti energy ideology ahead of strategic thinking about imports.  Replacing Venezuelan oil with Canadian oil should be an obvious move.  We would no longer be subsidizing a regime that hates us and would be dealing with our biggest trading partner.  Obama's stated reasons for opposing the pipeline are nonsensical.