TPT July 2013

Global Marketplace

A steady drumbeat of opposition is being kept up by American environmentalists, who assert that the pipeline would vastly increase greenhouse gas emissions and the danger of oil spills. In mid-April a new group, the All Risk, No Reward Coalition, introduced a 30-second TV commercial calling attention to the recent spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, of oil sands crude from a decades-old pipeline. “It’s happened before,” goes the message. “And now again.” All Risk also noted that much of the oil that would travel through the proposed pipeline would be refined at Gulf Coast facilities and then exported. According to the TV spot, “Keystone XL doesn’t go to the US. It goes through the US.” An indication of how much is at stake for Canada – suffering a heavy-oil glut attributed largely to tight US pipeline capacity – is evident from the new willingness of Canadians in high places to push back at the environmentalists. In April, during her fourth lobbying trip to Washington in 18 months, the premier of Alberta – the Canadian province with the oil sands formations that would supply Keystone XL – said opponents of the 1,700-mile pipeline were “far from reality” about its environmental costs. The claim by Premier Alison Redford that developing the oil sands would have a negligible impact on global warming is disputed by opponents of the project, who say the high carbon content of the crude has the potential to disrupt climate. While acknowledging that pipeline spills occur, Ms Redford said the proposed 36" diameter pipeline would be safer and more technologically advanced than existing pipelines.

information provider Platts, gas mainline networks are set to grow by 667 miles in the year – just over twice the 331 miles completed and put into service in 2012. “As we start to get a more robust economic recovery, you could see more crucial bottlenecks occurring” on gas pipelines, Michelle Michot Foss, director of the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas (Austin), told Platts (11 April). “That will definitely send a signal to the gas side” to pick up the pace of expansions. Each major project would include millions of dollars’ worth of steel. Oil and gas A failure of Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline project is portrayed as potentially threatening to US infrastructure The decision by US President Barack Obama whether or not to approve TransCanada Corporation’s contentious Keystone XL pipeline proposal is expected to be announced this summer. As the time grows shorter, the voices of both opponents and backers of the $5.3bn project for transporting Canadian oil to refineries in Texas grow stronger.

8 billion 600,000 t 1

BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL OF PREMIUM SEAMLESS TUBES

COMMON UNDER- STANDING OF QUALITY

www.read-tpt.com “Lula” – the second-largest oil field ever found – lies off the coast of Brazil. 8 billion barrels of crude oil will be extracted here in the near future from depths of up to 7 kilometres. That is only possible with premium seamless tubes of the highest quality. Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil has therefore purchased the best plant engineering available worldwide: The PQF ® process from SMS Meer. Staying on the safe side.

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July 2013