Lack Of Pipelines Costs Canada Billions Of Dollars
Scotiabank released a report last week that said, “Reliance on the existing pipeline network and rail shipments to bring Canadian oil to market has a demonstrable impact on Canada’s well-being, with consequences that extend well beyond Alberta.”
Unfortunately, Scotiabank also found the country does not have enough pipeline capacity and that the Canadian government is not doing enough to facilitate pipeline construction. The report said, “The sooner governments move to allow additional pipeline capacity to be built, the better off Canada will be.”
The current lack of capacity will hurt the economy this year, and moving forward. Scotiabank concluded the problem would cost the Canadian economy $10.7 billion in 2018, and up to $15.6 billion annually moving forward unless the Canadian government adds pipeline capacity.
The Financial Post noted, “The costs come as delays continue for all three major proposed oil pipelines to export more oil from Western Canada, including Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion, Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement, and TransCanada’s Keystone XL.”