The kinder, gentler energy superpower

Canada is the kind of oil supplier the U.S. can rely on, and no one knows it better than the Texans

In Texas City, a small port town south of Houston near the Gulf of Mexico, a hub of refineries rises through the misty January air, billowing steam from scrubber towers.

These refineries make up part of a sprawling industrial cluster in the Gulf Coast region that is better equipped than anywhere on earth to handle the gooey crude coming out of Alberta’s oil sands.


In a twisting turn of geography, geology and history, Texans are hungry for Alberta oil.

As the U.S. seeks to decrease its dependence on crude from unstable regions and OPEC countries, and with the oil sands booming, Canada has supplanted Saudi Arabia as the leading supplier of crude to the U.S., claiming the No. 1 spot in 2004.

Now, three major pipelines that would move Alberta oil all the way to Texas are under consideration, with a final decision on at least one likely within two months. A fourth pipeline is nearly approved to send almost half a million barrels a day to Illinois, Oklahoma and northern Texas