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Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on February 29, 2012 at 6:59am

Sunoco is taking down a couple of refineries in Eastern Pa because of new environmental rules.  Yes someone is messing with prices....Pres Obama

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on February 29, 2012 at 5:10am

I am not a big fan of tar sands oil as it seems to be a combination of coal mining and oil refining. Its environmental footprint is pretty heavy.

As for the pipeline affecting our royalties by reducing oil prices.....I don't think it would have a major impact on pricing as oil is a global commodity and the prices we get here are pegged to the global price. Eventually, if we get millions of barrels a day from the Bakken, the Eagle Ford, the Utica and other oil bearing shale plays and we substantially reduce our imports of crude, then it would have an affect on global pricing.  But the world's hunger for oil is growing so rapidly, I don't think the impact will be huge. Could be a different story if shale plays world wide become dominate.

But there may be other side benefits.  If we do get large volumes of oil from all these shale plays, perhaps we will expand our exporting of refined products even more.  That would create a lot more jobs, help our balance of trade, lower inflation, increase tax revenue and more.

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Permalink Reply by Dan on February 29, 2012 at 6:43am

I keep reading about vast amounts of precious and industrial metals in that area of Canada.   It isn't cost effective to mine the shale and tar because of the amount of heat to extract them.  I have always suspected the metals are the goal and with the combination of oil they both become profitable.  Just my ignorant guess.

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