Demonstrators march with a replica of a pipeline during a protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline outside the White House on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Demonstrators against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, protest outside the law offices of Nebraska Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood, in Norfolk, Neb., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, while Alex Pourbaix, president of TransCanada Corp.'s energy and oil pipelines, holds a meeting inside with state senators to discuss the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline through the state. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In this Oct. 13, 2010, the sandhills near Mills in north central Nebraska, through which the Keystone XL pipeline is planned to be built, is shown. TransCanada's second pipeline, the $7 billion Keystone XL, is planned to carry crude oil from tar sands near Hardisty, Alberta to the Gulf Coast is now delayed indefinitely, with little official explanation. The company had hoped to begin laying pipe by the end of the year, but those prospects have dimmed. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Demonstrators march with a replica of a pipeline during a protest to demand a stop to the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline outside the White House on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Demonstrators for the Keystone XL pipeline, right, and a demonstrator against the pipeline meet outside Pershing Auditorium near the state Capitol in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011, before a hearing on the pipeline. Opponents of the pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada to Texas through the sandhills of Nebraska expressed concern about the pipeline's effect on the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to eight states, while supporters of the pipeline, which include labor unions and business groups, spoke of jobs and development and energy security. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (AP)
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Protesters opposing the Keystone XL pipeline carry a mock pipeline in front of Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011, before a public hearing began inside. Environmentalists and landowners, who held a rally against the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada to Texas through the sandhills of Nebraska, expressed concern about the pipeline's effect on the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to eight states, while supporters of the pipeline, which include labor unions and business groups, held an opposing rally and spoke of jobs and development and energy security. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (AP)
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Demonstrators for and against the Keystone XL pipeline gather outside Pershing Auditorium near the state Capitol in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011. Federal officials head to Nebraskas capital Tuesday as public hearings about a proposed oil pipeline that would span the country from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico move to the state where opposition to the $7 billion plan has been strongest. Opponents of the pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada to Texas through the sandhills of Nebraska expressed concern about the pipeline's effect on the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast subterranean reservoir that spans a large swath of the Great Plains and provides water to eight states, while supporters of the pipeline, which include labor unions and business groups, spoke of jobs and development and energy security. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (AP)
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Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman speaks during a news conference in Lincoln, Neb., Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, with Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, right. Heineman said he will not convene a special session of the legislature despite a call by Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, who wants the state to enact legislation to protect Nebraska's Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer from the Keystone XL pipeline project, that some say is an environmental threat. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (AP)
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Actress Daryl Hannah is arrested by U.S. Park Police in front of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011, during a protest against the Keystone oil pipeline. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)
By David Hendricks San Antonio Express-News staff writer
The U.S. government must decide whether it wants more oil from Canada or wants to continue relying on high levels of supplies from the Middle East and Venezuela, the Canadian ambassador to the United States said Wednesday while in San Antonio.
If San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. could decide, the refining company would select the Canada option, using the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, Valero Vice President Jim Greenwood said.
As proposed, the Keystone pipeline would stretch from northeastern Alberta, Canada, to the Houston-Port Arthur refinery region.
Canadian ambassador Gary Doer spoke at a Wednesday luncheon sponsored by Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Greenwood. Doer told the audience of about 160 people that Canada believes the Obama administration should more forward on the pipeline project “on its merits.”
Doer told the audience that Canada believes the Obama administration should more forward on the pipeline project “on its merits.”
On Jan. 18, President Barack Obama said the U.S. government was rejecting the TransCanada Corp. pipeline application because environmental studies could not be completed by a deadline imposed by a December law extending the U.S. payroll tax reduction.
TransCanada is widely expected to re-apply for approval. Greenwood said the Jan. 18 announcement was “a decision not to make a decision” for now.
Despite the rejection, Doer remains confident. “We’re going to get it done,” Doer said.
The $7 billion pipeline would deliver between 435,000 and 590,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in Illinois and on the Texas coast. The pipeline also could deliver to refineries the oil being extracted from shale formations in North Dakota and Montana.
Doer told San Antonio Express-News editors before the luncheon that Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit China next week. “Oil will be on the agenda,” Doer said.
China and India are possible customers for Canadian oil if the project is canceled and U.S. companies cannot take delivery, the ambassador said.
“We have a resource the world wants. We are going to develop our options. We’re not going to stand still while others stand still,” Doer said.
U.S. critics of the pipeline project say it would come with a high environmental toll, leaving behind toxic sludge ponds and destroyed forests while producing large amounts of gases linked to climate change.
But opposition from environmentalists is countered by support from labor organizations seeking the thousands of jobs that would result from pipeline construction and at refineries and companies making pipeline construction equipment, motors and pumps, Doer said.
In addition, “we want to assure that national security is part of the debate, too,” Doer said. “We believe the Keystone pipeline fits into energy independence for the United States.”
Valero has planned since 2008 to purchase and refine Canadian oil and is expanding its Port Arthur refinery.
“The pipeline would bring the heavier crude that we are finding less of in the world, from Mexico and Venezuela, which is of volatile reliability,” Greenwood said. “We want to assure we have a supply from a partner in North America and not be subjected to the . The project is now in limbo. We feel…whims of geopolitical chaos . eventually it will get built.”
Greenwood added that Valero “actively is visiting with legislators on the importance of a reliable source of crude oil for transportation fuels.”
