The Independent View: The Keystone XL Pipeline

The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the United States in Steele City, Nebraska; Wood River and Patoka, Illinois; and the Gulf Coast of Texas. In will carry synthetic crude oil (syncrude) and diluted bitumen (dilbit) from the oil sands of Canada and light crude oil from the Williston Basin (Bakken) region in Montana and North Dakota.

The Keystone XL ("XL" stands for "Export Limited.") pipeline Project (Phase IV) revised proposal in 2012, which the Congress is planning to bring to a vote, consists of a new 36-inch pipeline, replacing existing pipeline, to transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada, to primarily to refineries in the Gulf Coast area.

Here are some of my issues:

1. The supposed job growth number, around 50,000, is only temporary and seems high. But there will be some growth at the refineries to handle the increase in the number of barrels received per day. There also will be the cost to upgrade the refineries to handle the Canada's tar sands crude oil.

2. The pipeline path in Nebraska is waiting for their court's approval. If it fails, any new path will have to go through all the different studies again and who knows how long this will take.

3. Proponents for the Keystone XL pipeline argue that it would allow the U.S. to increase its energy security and reduce its dependence on foreign oil. But this is not the facts. After a bill by Senator Bill Neilson of Florida was rejected, that would have required a portion of the refined oil tow stay in the United States, the refined oil would go to ports on the Gulf Coast and be shipped to other countries.

4. The Gulf Coast ports will be in a Economic Free Tax Zone. So there will be no Export Taxes income for the United States.

5. Any benefit for the new pipeline in the United States for refining the light crude oil from the Williston Basin (Bakken) region in Montana and North Dakota does not require any congressional action.