East Coast pipeline a pipe dream

A pipeline to Canada’s East Coast, such as the cancelled Energy East project, would not result in an end to Canadian refineries importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other countries.

A pipeline to the East Coast is the least economical option for Alberta producers to get their oil to global markets. And eastern Canadian refineries are not equipped to process the heavy bitumen produced in the oilsands. The president of Irving, which owns the New Brunswick refinery at the end of Energy East, admitted that Irving would continue importing Saudi crude even if Energy East was built.

Pipeline proponents can try to use a diplomatic spat to revive a doomed pipe dream all they want, but the reality is simple: Energy East was cancelled because there is no economic need for an East Coast pipeline in a world that’s moving away from oil and transitioning to a clean energy economy.

Tim Gray

Environmental Defence

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