Gulf News reported that Alberta, Canada's oil producing heartland and Quebec's separatist government will study the benefits of shipping the western province's crude to refineries in Quebec, a shift that could help cut the industry's dependence on the US market.
The development is a shift from previous comments by Quebec officials that had cast doubt on the energy industry's quickly evolving plans to get oil sands derived crude to Eastern Canadian refineries, which now handle mostly imported oil that arrives at a much higher price.
Alberta Premier Mr Alison Redford and her Quebec counterpart Ms Pauline Marois agreed to set up a working party to look at the issue ahead of a Mr Marois visit to Alberta next year.
Ms Marois said that "It's exactly the evaluation we will do, to see if it's advantageous for both sides to have Albertan oil refined in Quebec."
Mr Redford along with New Brunswick Premier Mr David Alward want to send Albertan crude to the Irving Oil Limited refinery at Saint John, New Brunswick which would mean using pipelines through Quebec. The refinery, Canada's largest has capacity of 300,000 barrels a day.
With Albertan crude production expanding rapidly, Redford has actively pushed for a national energy strategy to get Alberta oil to market through pipelines or other means.
Neighbouring British Columbia has resisted a plan by Enbridge Inc for the CAD 6 billion Northern Gateway pipe to the Pacific Coast for export to Asia and US President Mr Barack Obama has temporarily at least blocked TransCanada Corporation's USD 5.3 billion Keystone XL pipeline to Texas refineries.
Mr Greg Selinger premier of the Prairie province of Manitoba through which some crude already flows, praised the idea as a way to build energy security in Canada. Providing energy into the Atlantic and Eastern provinces I think would be very positive for the country, both from a private investment point of view in the East, but also to provide further market opportunities for Canadian producers in the West. So I think it's a good story for all of us if we do it properly.
