Sending Best Thoughts and Prayers

As I sit here enjoying my stoked up wood stove, with hot whiskey-laced coffee... I do send all my very best to Texans and anyone else suffering from power outages and unexpected cold weather.
I assure you I can't stand heat and humidity, as badly as the cold affects you folks, and it's awful - layers. Lots of layers. Keep moving too, but don't get sweaty.
 
BFT Gibson said:
something strange going on, its like conflicting ... oil going everywhere & people getting major paid at all our consumer end expense
Click to expand...



Let’s look at five reasons Canada imports crude oil from foreign sources.


  1. Proximity of abundant U.S. supplies means lower transportation costs for eastern refiners. “The biggest reason we import oil is the simple fact that a lot of U.S. production is closer to eastern markets than supplies from western Canada,” says David Layzell, Director, Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Initiative.
  2. There are no oil pipelines that go to New Brunswick, which is home to Canada’s largest refinery – the Irving Refinery. So, they import foreign oil that’s shipped by tanker to their deep-water port at a lower cost than transporting oil from western Canada by trucks or rail.
  3. There’s also a shortage of pipelines to take oil to the other Atlantic provinces and to Quebec. Alternative transportation options to get oil from western oil producing provinces are less cost-effective for refiners than imports.
  4. Most eastern Canadian refineries are unable to process the heavy crude oil (bitumen) that comes out of the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta. So, although crude oil from western Canada sells at a discounted price, the refining process can still be more complex and costly.
  5. The CERI report points out that western Canada also imports oil products. Oil sands producers use these imports, which are mostly natural gas condensates from the U.S., to dilute bitumen so that it can be transported by pipeline.
 
Session 5 said:
Let’s look at five reasons Canada imports crude oil from foreign sources.


  1. Proximity of abundant U.S. supplies means lower transportation costs for eastern refiners. “The biggest reason we import oil is the simple fact that a lot of U.S. production is closer to eastern markets than supplies from western Canada,” says David Layzell, Director, Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Initiative.
  2. There are no oil pipelines that go to New Brunswick, which is home to Canada’s largest refinery – the Irving Refinery. So, they import foreign oil that’s shipped by tanker to their deep-water port at a lower cost than transporting oil from western Canada by trucks or rail.
  3. There’s also a shortage of pipelines to take oil to the other Atlantic provinces and to Quebec. Alternative transportation options to get oil from western oil producing provinces are less cost-effective for refiners than imports.
  4. Most eastern Canadian refineries are unable to process the heavy crude oil (bitumen) that comes out of the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta. So, although crude oil from western Canada sells at a discounted price, the refining process can still be more complex and costly.
  5. The CERI report points out that western Canada also imports oil products. Oil sands producers use these imports, which are mostly natural gas condensates from the U.S., to dilute bitumen so that it can be transported by pipeline.
Click to expand...
pretty intersting actually. Oil coming & going for various reasons. In the end wouldn't each nation be better off being self supportive? even at the initial cost of proper distribution.
 
Now that your new President, has killed the Canadian Keystone XL Pipeline, there are going to be thousands of jobs lost on both sides of the border, many Texans are losing their jobs over the cancellation. This is probably why your friend lost his job, unfortunately there will be many more coming.
 
Last edited:
Session 5 said:
Now that your new President, has killed the Canadian Keystone XL Pipeline, there are going to be thousands of jobs lost on both sides of the border, many Texans are losing their jobs over the cancellation. This is probably why your friend lost his job, unfortunately there will be many more coming.
Click to expand...
it's messed up a good bit here already. see it in business as things get more expensive to run & hiring does down.. been in the cycle for 3 decades. Did hire last year even in the down time & i will not raise my prices .. my competitors did. My phone sucks tho..man its getting nastier by the year..the stuff i hear in the first 10 seconds of a call..the language, the way people talk..i could care less anymore..but never ending ugliness doesn't make sense..i mean, we are coming to help you..why curse & yell & badger us. you would think be nice so we can get ya in your house or car within about 20 minutes.
 
Im not going to go into a political op-ed with what im getting ready to say, but rather from someone with direct knowledge of the particular issues over the failed power grid, so excuse the rant.

You've probably heard me mention that im an electrician. Well yeah, for over 20 years now on the books, but ive been around it literally my entire life from my dad and older brother. Though I have worked in residential settings in the past, starting out when i was actually just 11 years old with my dad as well as lot of commercial settings, i predominately work in industrial/institutional/distribution settings. We often install newer renewable energy sources now, such as Solar, Hydroelectric and even Methane regeneration.

What happened in Texas was gross negligence from ERCOT ( Electric Reliability Council of Texas) and this solely lies at their feet. A popular fairy tale being touted was " Green Energy Failures Caused the Crisis". Let me set the record straight on this one: thats utter bull:poo:. While its true that some Wind Turbines simply froze up and failed, rendering many powerless; Texas is largely operating on outdated Coal power plants, as well as newer but inefficient natural gas plants and nuclear power plants that are now over 40-50 years old. ERCOT has roughly 45,000 Megawatts of power but its renewable sources only make up 16,000 of that and in winter months, nonrenewable sources operate over 80% of ERCOT generation. Roughly 35% of its nonrenewable sources is Natural Gas and natural gas has one MASSIVE failure in the cold weather: its lines begin to freeze and condensate, suppressing volume.

In otherwords, old school energy failed this one and it did it horribly. Im from WV, for those who know geography, we are literally the coal center of the entire world. Our entire economy is centered on it. But the fact is simple: its a dying source and renewables simply get the job done more efficiently and cheaper. All over this state: hydro, solar and wind turbines are popping up like blades of grass. The coal miners here are obviously pissed, but here in WV, I dont see their argument: WV Coal is metallurgical grade and used in Steel production, not energy. Their mines wont be shut down any time soon as long as we continue to use US Metallurgical Coal.

The coal used in Power plants often is imported from both Russia and China due to its awful grading and is very inefficient in heating and steam generation but its cheap. We have some energy grade coal sourced in the US but ironically, we export most of it. So the question is: if coal plants use largely foreign coal anyways, why keep them ?? Because politicians get paid to keep them from foreign investments, thats why. And that is why failures like Texas' energy crisis continue to occur because no one cares as long as they get paid.


My two cents on the issue and if anyone wants me to back up my facts, im glad to do so: im a mediocre guitar player, know little to nothing of electronics repair but when it comes to Electricity Construction/Distribution? Thats the only time you WILL not hear me be humble: i earned my stripes long time ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top