TPT July 2013

Global Marketplace

19,295 carloads) from March 2012. Although pipeline spills are far worse in terms of volume of oil lost, according to the AAR railroads report nearly three times as many spills as pipelines. Oil transport by rail is faster but more expensive than pipeline delivery. AAR reported that, overall, deliveries by rail in March were down 0.5 per cent (to 1.1 million carloads) compared to March of last year. The monthly decline was the lowest in more than a year. › While the American president, who is believed by Obama watchers to favour Keystone XL, mulls his decision on the pipeline, the US State Department is conducting a review to determine whether the much-delayed project is in the national interest. For their part, the American Petroleum Institute and construction unions, which would see some 4,000 temporary jobs created if the pipeline gains approval, launched a print and online advertising campaign promoting the economic and employment benefits of the project. “Keystone XL is more than a pipeline,” the ads proclaim. “It’s a lifeline.” Heavily invested in American shale assets, Billiton’s chief urges the US away from the ideal of energy independence Writing in Market Watch (San Francisco), Robb M Stewart reported the chairman of BHP Billiton Ltd as saying that the US ought to be encouraging oil and natural gas exports rather than worrying about weaning itself off foreign crude. Acknowledging a dislike for the terms “energy security” and “energy independence,” Jacques Nasser told a business luncheon in Melbourne in April, “I think it would be really wrong for a country to go down that path.” Mr Nasser, a former president and CEO of Ford Motor Co who has headed the Anglo–Australian multinational BHP since 2010, believes that the US should be both an importer and exporter of energy. He said the export of onshore oil and gas, which has surged in recent years as new extraction techniques have been developed, would deliver geopolitical benefits to the world and also create a large number of high- skills jobs. (“BHP: US Should Promote Onshore Oil, Gas Exports,” 13 April) Market Watch noted that Billiton, whose chairman would like to see all forms of energy traded globally, is pumping billions of dollars into developing shale assets in the United States. In 2011 the company expanded a petroleum portfolio that included operations in the US Gulf of Mexico, Australia and elsewhere by obtaining thousands of acres of shale assets in the US with the (US)$12.1bn takeover of Petrohawk Energy Corp (Texas) and $4.75bn purchase of Chesapeake Energy Corp’s Fayetteville (Arkansas) operation. BHP, which also produces coal and uranium, has said it expects output of 240 million barrels of oil equivalent through June of this year. “We’re bullish on energy demand in total,” Mr Nasser said in Melbourne.

“If we do have energy development, there really is the risk of unfortunate incidents happening – and it is a risk,” Ms Redford said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. “But these are very isolated incidents, and they don’t happen as often as people might suggest that they could.” A spokeswoman for the All Risk, No Reward Coalition begs to differ. Recommending that the Canadian official pay a visit to the site of the oil spill in Arkansas, Rachel Wolf said in a statement: “Perhaps [Ms Redford] should . . . see the true devastation of a tar sands spill and the risks that families would face before she schedules another speaking engagement promoting the pipeline.” R ail vs pipeline oil delivery At the Brookings, Ms Redford made reference to other means of transport – rail, truck, river barge – that she said were much more environmentally damaging and far less safe than pipelines. Also on 9 April, TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard very clearly invoked the significance of the Keystone XL pipeline to the infrastructure of the United States. As reported by United Press International, Mr Howard told Bloomberg News that an “unintended consequence” of failure to build the pipeline would be an increase in oil deliveries by rail and offshore tankers. Those methods, he asserted on upi. com , are not as safe as moving oil by pipeline. Authorities say that rail vs pipeline for oil delivery is a complex issue, but some data from the American Association of Railroads (AAR) may be pertinent. In March, petroleum and petroleum product deliveries by rail were up 54.3 per cent (to

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July 2013