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Pipelines, energy and natural resources

  • Thread starter Thread starter QV
  • Start date Start date
Chinese solar problems.



Problem or opportunity? See what they did in Pakistan. They can now dump a ton of solar panels anywhere else that is energy starved, to gain geopolitical leverage.

Further to....


This is the Hydrogen we were supposed to supply instead of the Natural Gas they asked for?

Hydrogen has (mostly) been a scam. Mostly made from fossil fuels. At high cost. And difficult to transport thanks to embrittlement. Useful for certain industrial applications.

In any event, I vehemently disagree with giving the Europeans cheap gas. Let them move their energy intensive industry to Canada so we can get jobs here. There's no reason for us to effectively subsidize glass and steel manufacturing in Germany when there's folks in Canada who need manufacturing jobs. Heck, put that manufacturing right in Alberta.
 
Problem or opportunity? See what they did in Pakistan. They can now dump a ton of solar panels anywhere else that is energy starved, to gain geopolitical leverage.

Both. The market working to get the best solution to the best location. Even if the government intervenes.

Hydrogen has (mostly) been a scam. Mostly made from fossil fuels. At high cost. And difficult to transport thanks to embrittlement. Useful for certain industrial applications.

Absolutely. The amount of over-engineering necessary to capture and constrain energy as H2 as compared to, say Propane, or even Natural Gas just never made sense to me. Htdrogen is a slippery little bugger that doesn't want to stay put.

In any event, I vehemently disagree with giving the Europeans cheap gas. Let them move their energy intensive industry to Canada so we can get jobs here. There's no reason for us to effectively subsidize glass and steel manufacturing in Germany when there's folks in Canada who need manufacturing jobs. Heck, put that manufacturing right in Alberta.

Like it.

Push comes to shove the Euros have resources. In many instances they have chosen not to exploit them, often over quality of life issues.
 
It's not fuels, but natural resources is in the thread title, so Ontario has just joined the feds in agreeing to fast track Canada Nickle's Crawford Lake project.


While the Ring of Fire seems to be getting all the attention, Crawford Lake is about 40km north of Timmins, on a highway and near a rail line (fortuitous timing, it is just north of the Kidd reek mine - deepest base metal mine in the world - which is scheduled to close this year). Combined with their Reid Project, proven and inferred resources are now over a billion tons of nickel and other metals, including Chromium. And they are still drilling.
 

US selling Venezuelan oil vs Venezuela selling Venezuelan oil

The same oil is selling for 30% more than it did before the removal of Maduro and the seizure of the Shadow Fleet.

The supply of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran allowed Asian, largely Chinese, refineries to demand the heavier Venezuelan oil be sold at a deeper discount.

The Venezuelan oil had been selling at Brent minus 14 USD per barrel.
Brent had been selling at about 60 USD per barrel so Venezuelan was selling at about 45 USD per barrel
WTI was 60 and Albertan WCS was, and is about the 45 USD mark as well.

So a couple of things have happened.

The US has more oil to sell at a 30% mark up. Competing with its supply of Albertan oil. Driving down the value of Albertan oil.
The US owns more of the oil supply giving it greater control over the oil supply.
Concurrently the actions against the globall shadow fleet is reducing China's supply and reducing Russian and Iranian revenues making them go broke faster and curtailing foreign adventures eventually.

Meanwhile China has to pay more for its oil driving costs up by 30%.
This too will impact China's balance-sheets restricting their ability to act.

And thus China's great interest in going green.

And Canada's interest in helping them.
Will we be selling them greener oil?

If the baseline is 45 USD per barrel to the US and that allows a modest profit / break-even,
And if the market value is 60 USD per barrel,
Can we get "greener" oil to market directly for less than an additional 15 USD per barrel?

Can we build a pipeline and carbon capture system for 10 USD per barrel?

Pathways CCS is assumed to be somewhere around 20 BUSD
The pipeline I will assume about something similar for another 20 BUSD
Add in another 10 BUSD for contingency and assume a 50 BUSD price tag.

50 BUSD cost
10 USD per barrel
5 Billion barrels
1 Million barrels per day
5000 days
14 years

But there is a knock on effect demonstrated by the TMX pipeline
That additional advantage of having other markets puts pressure on the supply to the US and increases the price of the WCS to the US.
Let's say that it only adds 5 USD per barrel
There are 4 Million barrels per day flowing to the US

20 Million USD per day
7.3 Billion USD per year

Applied to the 50 BUSD project cost that reduces the payback by about 7 years, effectively cutting the payback in half.

Net Zero for 2050, or 25 years from now, even if the market dried up completely in 2050 that would still leave 15 years or so of a revenue stream.

...

If I have my arithmetic right.

....


US secures Venezuela and encourages shutting down the Shadow Fleet (it isn't just the US in the game -


US revenues rise
Russian and Iranian revenues fall
Chinese costs rise

Canadian revenues fall if nothing is done
Canadian revenues rise if new pipelines are built, with or without Carbon Capture.
 
Further to the seizing of oil tankers and the impact on the market and geopolitics


400 vessels operating under international sanctions

That equals 400 vessels transporting cheap oil that impacts the market
400 environmental hazards
400 sabotage bases
400 intelligence gathering opportunities
400 threats to shipping


And that probably understates the situation because it only addresses oil tankers.
 
"The collective West had opted to abide by the law with the expectation that if it did, then so would revisionist states – for now. And if the West doesn’t abide by the laws largely of its own making, why should revisionists?"

My question - if the "revisionists" don't abide by the laws and are damaging the interests of the West then how long are we expected to tolerate their lawlessness? We can't afford them the luxury of doing as they please.

www.rusi.org

US Boarding Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker Breaks Precedent: High Stakes on the High Seas

If the US no longer abides by rules, how does it expect revisionist states to do so?
www.rusi.org
www.rusi.org
 
boereport.com

Discount on Western Canada Select narrows | BOE Report

The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Thursday. WCS for February delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $14.10 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $14.30 a barrel...
boereport.com
boereport.com

And there is that $14 dollar US advantage that the US was touting wrt the Venezuelan oil.

Just consider it the mark up necessary to get our product to market. 33% to give the US a 25% margin to cover handling and refining and generate a healthy commission.
 
that price for WCS they are quoting is in Hardisty.
Are they quoting WTI in Hardisty or is it Cushing or Houston?

AI is better than I can give you - YMMV

As of mid-January 2026, Western Canadian Select (WCS) trades at a discount to the WTI benchmark, with the Hardisty price reflecting Canadian production costs and WTI Cushing showing U.S. benchmark prices, but real-time WCS Cushing prices are available through financial sites like CME Group, showing it priced closer to WTI but still lower, with recent discounts around $14-$18 below WTI futures for various months.
Key Price Indicators (Approximate, mid-Jan 2026):
  • WTI Cushing (Benchmark): Around $59-$60 USD/barrel (spot/futures).
  • WCS Hardisty (Discount): Roughly $14-$18 USD below WTI (e.g., a recent report showed WCS Hardisty at WTI minus $14.10 for February delivery).
Where to Find Live Data:
....

WCS - Hardisty is WTI minus 14 to 18
WCS - Cushing is WTI minus 11 to 12

Transportation cost would seem to be about 5 USD per bbl plus or minus

WTI at 60 still leaves the US with a 20% margin to cover refining and commission.
 



.....


One advantage of the Canadian supply is that it includes the heavy fractions necessary for making roads and water-proofing.
 
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