NAFTA AND OIL PIPELINE
BARGAINING CLOUT
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
First uploaded March 1, 2017.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formally approved the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion and Enbridge Line 3 oil pipelines and informally approved the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. All of them would continue the exclusive export of Alberta’s oil production to just one customer – the U.S.
Everyone agrees there is simply not enough oil sands production to fill all three – as well as the proposed all-Canadian Energy East pipeline to Saint John on the East Coast and the First Nations-led Eagle Spirit energy corridor to Prince Rupert on the West Coast.
Eagle Spirit apparently now has Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopeful Kevin O’Leary’s attention and approval. http://www.ckdr.net/news/1350373854/conservatives-debate-issues-manning-conference
Instead, Trudeau ought to have held off on his approvals and used the three proposed oil pipelines to the U.S. as bargaining clout in the upcoming NAFTA renegotiations on dairy products, softwood lumber, auto manufacturing, beef exports, etc., etc..
While the U.S. needs Canada’s heavy crude for now, and its California, Midwest and Gulf Coast refiners profit handsomely adding value to it, the U.S. is also making strides towards energy self-sufficiency and is intent on becoming self-sufficient in oil.
Canada, especially Alberta, desperately needs to add value domestically and access new markets in southeast Asia, western Europe, and western India – and only Energy East and Eagle Spirit can do that.
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
Calgary
403-281-2156
Author Bio
Mike Priaro, B.Eng.Sc. (Chem. Eng.), U.W.O. '76, P.Eng., Lifetime Member Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), worked in facilities, production, operations and reservoir engineering, as engineering consultant, area superintendent, and engineering management in Alberta's oil patch for 25 years for companies such as Amoco and PetroCanada.
He increased oil production from the historic Turner Valley oilfield and brought in under-balanced drilling and completion technology to drill out, complete, and test several of the highest producing gas wells ever on mainland Canada at Ladyfern. He co-authored ‘Advanced Fracturing Fluids Improve Well Economics’ in Schlumberger's Oilfield Review and developed the course material for the ‘Advanced Production Engineering’ course at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Mike has presented his work to Canada’s House Committee on Natural Resources in Ottawa and to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications in Calgary. He has had work published in: JNW Energy, Feb. 27, 2017; Alberta Oil magazine, Oct. 20, 2016; World Pipelines magazine, Sept. 2016; the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in the Mar. and Apr., 2014 and Feb., 2015 editions of Inside Policy magazine; U.S. energy industry websites such as RBN Energy; Oil and Gas Journal, Jul. 17, 2014; Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q3 2014; and in columns in the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Halifax Chronicle Herald, and others.
Mike has no formal connection to any oil company, environmental organization, think tank, labour organization, lobbying or special interest group, academia, or to provincial or federal politics.
In 2015 Mike provided "A Preliminary Engineering, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of ASRL's Partial Upgrading Process" to Alberta Sulphur Research Limited and presented it to 80 representatives of ASRL's member companies. ASRL partial upgrading subsequently obtained Alberta government funding and industry support. On Jan. 29, 2016, the Alberta Government made partial upgrading a priority based on its Royalty Review Panel’s recommendations. As of Nov. 2016, the ASRL partial upgrading flow test pilot was running at CANMET/NRCan’s research facility in Devon, AB.
In 2016 Mike was invited to be a Bowman Centre Volunteer Associate at the not-for-profit Bowman Centre for Sustainable Energy. Its mission is 'to catalyze big energy projects which drive Canada’s energy strategy and generate sustainable wealth and jobs'.
Mike’s work can be found on his LinkedIn pages:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-priaro or Behance website:https://www.behance.net/Mike_Priaro
