[All] Tar Sands update

[Lanteigne]

Hello everyone
I was driving my kid to work this morning listening to CBC Radio as they stated the Irving refineries lack the ability to process Tar Sands Oil. They have refineries based on cracking and it's not technically feasible to process Tar Sands oil using this process.  
So I looked online and saw this fact was well understood since 2013. Oil for Export: Tar Sands Bitumen Cannot be Refined in Eastern Canada | The Narwhal

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Oil for Export: Tar Sands Bitumen Cannot be Refined in Eastern Canada | ...

The misconception with 'west-to-east' pipeline proposals like Enbridge’s Line 9 or TransCanada’s Energy East is ...
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The CBC coverage today also notes there has been a 20% drop in the use of imported Saudi Oil since the Covid shut downs. Seems there is no pressure of demand with this excess in supply of conventional crude. 
Never the less, Irving did get approval to ship bitumen from Alberta but only via BC's coast line and that route requires a slight detour through the Panama Canal. https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/irving-oil-finally-gets-approval-to-source-alberta-oil-but-through-the-panama-canal


Interestingly I read this previous CBC report from May 1, 2020 which states that Irving intended to "increase it's use of domestic oil". This report states the privately held refiner applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) to use foreign tankers in order to increase the amount of domestic crude it gets from offshore Newfoundland and Western Canada. By increasing the amount of Canadian oil the refinery uses it would displace the crude imports the company gets from around the world. However, it is not clear which shipments might be affected.  They also said the refinery uses a "significant" amount of oil from the United States.
Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said in this article that she is glad Irving Oil will begin using more Western Canadian crude, adding that Alberta produces enough to supply the country.

Irving Oil targets summer for tanker shipments of Western Canadian crude | CBC News


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Irving Oil targets summer for tanker shipments of Western Canadian crude...

Refiner says it has regulatory approval for its plan, which would increase its use of domestic oil from offshore...
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Interestingly in 2016 the Irving Oil President Ian Whitcomb said it would keep Saudi Imports even if Energy East goes ahead (which it didn't)  because it wants access to diverse suppliers.  Imports from Saudi Arabia, which started when the refinery opened in 1960, are compelling because of the low cost of transportation on large tankers, he said.

“We will add Western Canadian crude to our portfolio as the economics dictate, but probably not at the expense of our Saudi barrels,” he said.
The article states Irving Oil, based in Saint John, N.B., runs Canada’s largest oil refinery. It processes about 320,000 barrels a day, including a third imported from Saudi Arabia, a third imported from the U.S., and the rest shipped by rail from Western Canada or elsewhere.
https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/irving-oils-president-says-it-would-keep-saudi-imports-even-if-energy-east-goes-ahead

And by the way, here is a really neat video from Canadians for Tax Fairness on how the Irvings have mastered the art of aggressive offshore tax evasion. They like to create companies to hire and then they charge themselves outrageous prices creating what appears to be losses. In that way they can profit from government hand outs and lower tax rates because it looks like they're barely making money. It's an old system and it has worked very well for them in the past but fiscal and judicial prudence is catching up to them. https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/how-irvings-built-empire-using-tax-havens
Have a delightful day folks! 
Lulu :0) 
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