Canadian crude oil being pumped to Europe and Asia for higher prices

Canada’s greatest asset is our natural resources.  Mining, agriculture, fishery, oil and gas, account for practically all of Canada’s exports.  The biggest challenge for the resource industry is extraction and delivery of its products to the final users.  Logistics is critical to its success.  This is why the proposed pipelines are so important to the oil industry.  With the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipeline projects in limbo, the oil companies are looking to alternative avenues and markets.  Exporting to Europe and Asia provides market diversification.  Supply and demand is a factor.  With shortage of oil in Europe and Asia, oil commands higher international prices.

It is ironic that our oil is shipped to Europe and Asia through the United States.  Without pipelines in Canada, oil companies are utilizing American pipelines to ship oil to tankers located in Southeast USA and hauled to Europe. This process actually increases the carbon footprint and is more harmful to the global environment.  If environmentalists are truly concerned, they need to think more globally than that of the local environment.  By protecting the local environment, we potentially put the global environment at risk.  The world is getting smaller and the global environment is our back yard.  Reducing our carbon footprint will ensure long-term sustainability.