Energy and Environmental Policy Trends: The Invisible Cost of Pipeline Constraints
THE INVISIBLE COST OF PIPELINE CONSTRAINTS Over much of the last decade pipeline constraints and the resulting apportionment of pipeline capacity have meant reduced returns on Alberta’s Oil Exports. There is a natural price discount between the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Calgary
2018-03-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| Online Access: | http://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ENERGY-trends-advisory-March.pdf |
| Summary: | THE INVISIBLE COST OF PIPELINE CONSTRAINTS
Over much of the last decade pipeline constraints and the resulting apportionment of pipeline capacity have meant reduced returns on Alberta’s Oil Exports.
There is a natural price discount between the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude oil price and the Canadian benchmark Western Canada Select (WCS) price. This differential reflects the lower quality of WCS relative to WTI and the costs associated with pipeline tolls to transport this oil from Alberta to US refining hubs. However, at present western Canada is experiencing significant pipeline capacity constraints which have dramatically increased this discount relative to historical levels. |
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| ISSN: | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |