Myths & Facts: Keystone XL

Will refined products from Keystone XL be exported?



Valero Energy Corporation is a key customer of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Its refinery (above) in Port Arthur, Texas, is one of several Gulf Coast refineries hoping to replace more expensive imported crude oil.

Valero employs more than 10,000 people and processes three million barrels of oil a day, providing the fuel Americans need through its Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Beacon, Ultramar and Texaco brands.

We need it! We gotta have it! No matter who gets hurt!

It’s important for us to address inaccurate and misleading claims that continue to be made regarding Keystone XL and the issue of exports.

Okay...whose spreading those malicious rumors?

It should be noted that Keystone XL transports crude oil, not refined products.

Who accused Keystone of being refined?

TransCanada is an energy infrastructure company that builds energy infrastructure like pipelines, natural gas-fired power plants and wind farms.

Wind farms! How precious!

TransCanada doesn't actually extract or own a single molecule of oil or natural gas that it transports.

Well, I hope to kiss a pig if you owned even one molecule!

We are contracted to build the infrastructure to safely deliver those molecules to their destination.

Oh, where were you during the Gulf fiasco?

We don’t own the oil we transport, much like a moving company doesn’t own your bed during a move.

Who will own the oil once it's spilled all over the plains? I guess those poor bastards, much the way those folks in the gulf own that mess!
 
With that being said, we can provide insight into what happens to those products when they are refined.

Do tell...we feel better already!

Crude oil is not exclusively used to produce gasoline.

Really?

Crude oil is used to produce thousands of products that we use every day, not just gasoline and diesel.

Guns?

Crude oil feedstock is used to create the plastics that encase our cell phones and televisions, asphalt for our roads and even the latex gloves doctors use when delivering a baby.

Now who could be against babies??

The people suggesting that the oil Keystone XL transports will be used exclusively to make gasoline or diesel; that is simply a guess and they know it.

Harummph! The doidy liars!

The United States consumes the vast majority of its refined products.

See? They do it all for us!

The claim that “much of this oil is for export” is actually contrary to the facts, market analysis and what actual refiners and customers of Keystone XL have said.

We really need to be more trusting. Look what the Exxon Valdez did. There was simply too much wild life and fish...it was getting over-crowded and Exxon solved the problem.

The fact is the U.S. consumes the vast majority of all the refined products it produces.

Oink, oink!

In 2012, only about 9% of U.S refined on-road motor fuel was exported--the other 91 per cent was consumed in the United States first.

Ditto on the oinks!

State Department finds Keystone XL won’t impact export trends.

Of course not!

The State Department’s market analysis in Keystone XL’s final supplemental environmental impact statement says “U.S. product exports are not sensitive to different scenarios of pipeline development.”

Wha? Run that by me again.

Essentially saying that exports occur (and have occurred for more than 20 years) with or without Keystone XL and the project would not impact those trends.

Alrighty then! We choose to go without.

What do our customers say?

Wait! Let me guess! Keystone XL is wonderful!

Valero has exported less than 10 percent of the gasoline it makes.

Really?

The vast majority of what we make in the U.S. stays in the U.S.”

I'll be damned.

We also know that tens of thousands of jobs are tied to refining and creating the products we need and use every day.

Did you say jobs? That does it! We're in! Bring on the pollution!

Supporting the domestic refining industry with more domestic oil at lower prices keeps the industry competitive, protects jobs and supports its growth.

What more can we ask for?

Isn’t the U.S. using less gasoline?

The fact that the U.S. is using less gasoline is technically true; however, that statement without context is misleading.

Oh.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, in 2012, about 133 billion gallons (or 3.18 billion barrels) of gasoline was consumed in the United States, a daily average of about 365.65 million gallons (or 8.71 million barrels).

Wow! You're good.

U.S. gasoline consumption reached record highs in 2007 but has since decreased 6 percent.

The United States still uses a lot of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels.

That is not going to change overnight.

What can change overnight is where the U.S. sources the crude oil to create the products that we use every day.

Keystone XL is as shovel-ready as projects get.

Within months of a Presidential Permit, 9,000 men and women in the United States can begin working on a project that will bring lower-cost North American crude oil to U.S. refineries, reducing reliance on conflict oil from Venezuela and the Middle East thus enhancing energy security.

That sounds like a win win situation. Screw Venezuela! Double screw the Middle East!

TransCanada is 100 per cent responsible for responding, cleaning and restoring the site in the unlikely event of a pipeline leak.

It’s our responsibility--as a good company and under law.

If anything happens on the Keystone XL Pipeline, rapid response is key.

That’s why our Emergency Response plans are approved by state
and federal agencies, and why we practice them regularly.

We conduct regular emergency exercises, and aerial surveys every two weeks.

We’re ready to respond with a highly-trained response team standing by.

Why don't I have that warm, fuzzy feeling?
Could it be because what we've always done to others when we wanted something they had, is now being done to us?