In the short term for Canada, the return of U.S. oil production has meant that Canadian exporters are selling at a “discount rate” to the U.S., as demand for Canadian product falls. Reports indicate Canada is selling oil at $30 below the going rate for West Texas intermediate crude. The forecast represents a major challenge to Canada’s oil and gas exporters, who will have to find new markets — presumably in Asia — should the U.S. no longer need to import fossil fuels.
Canada's bitumen is a long way from Asia right now. The only really open option is to send the crap east via pipeline and setup a domestic supply network because the pipeline option is in serious trouble in every direction. Besides the huge anti-pipeline resistance up here in Canuckistan the debate over Keystone has become a flash point between environmentalists and energy development proponents in the US. It's hard to imagine the US approving Keystone as it’s likely that the pipeline will be used not to send Canadian oil to U.S. markets, but to ship to U.S. ports for export overseas.
Stand by for the Government of Alberta to start crying poverty tears any time soon too. Alberta has undercharged and under collected royalties since the day Peter Lougheed drove away. Alberta runs a $3billion deficit despite sitting on all those resources because the government is owned and operated by and for the oil industry. But the industry's greed to grow, financed by the banksters, is now set to see it's visions of sugar plums tank into what could well end up seeing Canada being a far better place. A self-sufficient place who's long term energy supplies fuel the jobs and industry of the future.
