BC Govt rejects Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion

9 Comments on "BC Govt rejects Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion"

makati1 on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 6:24 am 



Expand for what? To move water?

Kenz300 on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 9:36 am 



If frackers are going bankrupt the tar sand boys can not be far behind.

Half of U.S. Fracking Industry Could Go Bankrupt as Oil Prices Continue to Fall

http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/18/fracking-industry-bankrupt/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=bddf330f10-Top_News_1_18_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-bddf330f10-86023917

paulo1 on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 10:49 am 



There is some consolidation going on and most new projects are on hold in Alberta, but a few early players are still profitable. Their’s is a long-term investment in massive plants not at all like LTO. LTO was a stock/debt binge. The Oil Sands will keep producing for a long while yet.

However, it is very hard on worker’s families used to the big paycheques and who thought it would never end. Many did not put anything away, indeed, lived a debt-fueled life of expensive toys and expensive vacations.

I have seen something similar to this bust a few times in forestry. In the late 60’s the wealth and opportunities were unending. Companies were forced to use a quota system so there were cycles of slowdowns, but no busts. That changed with globalization and a succession of right-wing Govts. more concerned with shareholders than working citizens. I remember taking a call from the personal manager of a large Vancouver Island pulp mill shortly after I graduated high school. He had heard, (from a friend of mine who worked at the mill), that I might like to work there? I politely refused already working as a carpenter apprentice. Within 20 years it took 2 years post-secondary to even drop off an application in his office, and now many of the mills are shut down and the rest are pretty dodgy. I used to fly forestry crews to work Mon-Fri by float plane in the ’70s. I would pick them up at 7:30 and return for them at 5:00. Govt scaling crews got picked up at 3:30. I did this for years. Now, those jobs don’t even exist.

My barge loader friend Art would always comment, “It’s not what you can afford when you’re working, it’s what you can afford when you’re not working”. Sadly, the younger generation is just learning this now, the hard way.

The other thing we learned in forestry is that when the doom and gloom settles in, it isn’t forever. It always comes back and people go back to work. BUT, there is a caveat to this. The subsequent peaks are never as high as the earlier ones; the wages are never as good and the prospects are never as bright. Eventually, good goobs with pensions turn into contract worker positions so people can be terminated at a moments notice. When Weyerhauser moved onto Vancouver Island they even leased their office furniture so they turn it back in when they played hardball with their employees. (I am proud to say they were eventually run off Vancouver Island by the IWA/Steelworkers. Although, their successor Western Forest Products isn’t any better if the truth be known. Their just a shitty Canadian company as opposed to an American one).

regards

Apneaman on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 10:58 am 



paulo1, I’ve done shut downs and new construction at almost every pulp mill in BC and the tar sands among others, many times at some of them. When you sleep in a trailer at camp, that’s your first clue that your job is temporary. Duh. No real sympathy here for the workers.

rockman on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 11:02 am 



I wonder if KM would still go thru with the project this year even if they had gotten the permit. The northern leg of Keystone XL also seems unnecessary at least as long as oil prices stay low: every bbl of oil sands production today has a transport system to move it to the US. For KXL to take some of that market share away they would have to undercut the prices those other transporters currently charge. That would be a very difficult game to play for a company that just invested $billions in a new pipeline. And again remember: they would never begin building KXL until they had a MINIMUM volume of CONTRACTED oil to transport. They would never build it on the assumption they would get customers after it was completed.

Nony on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 3:10 pm 



Rock, pipes are cheaper than rail. Just based on the differential, you can make the capital pay for itself. (Close to $20 to rail crude from Ft McMurry to Beaumont, TX.) It’s not like KM are competing with other pipelines or depending on future production expansion. There’s enough volume right now and long term to make the project NPV positive.

makati1 on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 6:10 pm 



paulo1, I worked in construction all of my life, from a mason’s helper at age 20, to a project manager when I retired. I never worked at one company for more than 4 years. Not fired, just laid off or the company closed. I think that is the future of employment for most everyone now. Short term, no bennies and no security.

Apneaman on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 8:37 pm 



California natural gas leak just one of thousands across country

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/california-natural-gas-leak-just-one-of-thousands-across-country/

Boat on Thu, 21st Jan 2016 8:59 pm 



apeman,

Yes and the leaks go boom. This is one of the reasons some of us preach renewables regardless of the dangers of climate change.