A post originally placed in our forum and reposted here.
Canada’s largest union of energy workers joins with the Alberta Federation of Labour while simultaneously filing a motion with the National Energy Board to delay construction of a pipeline to the States so certain questions about job creation and resource development can be addressed.
The entire oil and gas industry is being restructured with the construction of the Keystone pipeline, and neither the National Energy Board, nor the provincial or federal governments understand the implications for oil and gas supply, jobs, the environment and more.
Independent research firm Informetrica suggests that as many 18,000 jobs are being sacrificed because the proposed Keystone Pipeline will be used to export unprocessed bitumen — rather than upgraded oil products — to U.S. refineries.
Millions of barrels per day of diluted unprocessed bitumen may be pumped south to U.S. upgraders, refineries and chemical producers. This new source of oil will create thousands of jobs in the U.S., as refineries are expanded to deal with this new source of product. As well, several billions ofdollars in building and upgrading facilities to handle the bitumen will be spent in the U.S. instead of Canada.
To the lobby, CEP’s evidence has been largely ignored by the NEB, though it has recently requested further information on the union’s research, as has the oil lobby itself. The intervention is part of CEP’s on-going attempts to force the NEB to recognize value-added jobs, the environment and social issues in determining the public interest when it comes to the development of the Alberta Oil Sands.
The 150,000-member CEP represents over 35,000 workers in the oil, gas and chemical industry in Ontario, Alberta and several other provinces.
econmod
Broker / Moderator
May 21, 2007, 1:10 PM
Post #1 of 3 (864 views)
Re: [econmod] Canadian Energy Union Says Canada Ripped Off at the Expense of America [In reply to] Can’t Post
Is this is an issue of who has the technology to process the oil?
If both organizations do what’s a better deal for them, shouldn’t it work out? That is, if it’s cheaper to send the stuff south to be processed, then that’s a proportional rise in real wages in Canada, meanwhile adding jobs in the US, right?
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Talk hard.
Jdvn1
Banker
May 29, 2007, 1:19 AM
Post #2 of 3 (816 views)
Re: [Jdvn1] Canadian Energy Union Says Canada Ripped Off at the Expense of America [In reply to]
I think the point is big investors in the oilsands are American and don’t want to spend all the money on wages up here when they can ship it south for some cost and keep the money in house. THere are refineries in Canada, mostly out east, but evidently it is cheaper to ship then it is to build a refinery up in Grand Prairie and process it there.