ICYMI, there's a hidden driver behind the fracking of gas in NE BC & the associated #CoastalGasLink pipeline being pushed through #Wetsuweten territory. It's condensate, a fracking by-product, & the Alberta tar sands need it for diluting bitumen: thenarwhal.ca/the-resource-b… #bcpoli
In that 2018 article on condensate by @BenParfittCCPA in @thenarwhalca, Parfitt points out that mainstream media doesn't cover the key issue of condensate. That's still as true today in 2020 as it was in 2018.
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@BenParfittCCPA @thenarwhalca In a thread a month ago I tried to quickly show the intimate link between BC fracking, #CoastalGasLink, #SiteC, #LNGCanada and the #TMX pipeline, but this time I'll focus more on the condensate. #bpcoli #LNGCanada #Wetsuweten #cdnpoli
From Parfitt's article: "B.C. is also helping to prop up Alberta’s oil industry by shipping it lots of extremely valuable “gas liquids” — by-products of natural gas [fracking] which are essential to dilute heavy oil or bitumen so that it can move more readily through pipelines."
My engineer pal remarks: 'Condensate may actually be the main product of fracking, with natural gas (mainly methane) really being the "by-product."' Problem with methane is that gas is ~worthless on the global market but it's not legal to just vent it off or flare it off into CO2
In Texas, frackers can burn off natural gas they can't sell (obvs a big climate impact). That's not legal in AB or BC, so how do we get rid of the methane gas? We build a pipeline and send it to Kitimat to be made into LNG, pretending it's for an Asian market that doesn't exist.
This is where Trudeau's strange subsidy of LNG comes in, & his false claims the gas turbines he bought for #LNGCanada in Kitimat are "high efficiency." Who told him 45% is high? Turbines would normally be part of a corp's project costs, & none are made in Canada. So... why?
Engineer: "what the LNG plant is actually "efficient" at is legally burning off methane: getting rid of 55% of it up the plant's stack like an acceptable flare. And thanks to the federal gov't's involvement in the largest infrastructure investment in BC history, that will happen"
Engineer adds, about the #LNGCanada plant in Kitimat: "Correction, all of the methane they burn to power the plant goes up the stack as carbon emissions: 45% does work making LNG, and 55% just goes up the stack like an acceptable flare." #bcpoli
The rest of the gas remaining from #CoastalGasLink is stored in the final LNG product, which isn't finding the desired Asian market because as long predicted, LNG and gas suppliers from Australia, Qatar and Russia got there first and cheaper. So we must ask: what's the point?
Corps are already struggling to sell our BC LNG from our existing LNG plants (eg the 'Kitimat LNG' plant Chevron is backing out of, & which is electrified BTW, unlike this new LNG Canada plant) canada.chevron.com/our-businesses…
Are the feds subsidizing this mess to supply AB w condensate?
Are the feds subsidizing this mess to supply AB w condensate?
We should be able to get answers to these questions from govt; we shouldn't have to endlessly speculate in the dark. Furthermore, mainstream media should be investigating these issues, & they're not. As always we must rely on @CCPA_BC, @thenarwhalca, @TheTyee etc.
To conclude, some final Qs:
1. Esp. with the Teck tar sands mine cancelled, AB's need for BC condensate won't spike. Oil prices are low & Alberta dilbit is a quite undesirable form of oil globally, so why expand BC fracking to supply failing tar sands with BC diluent?
1. Esp. with the Teck tar sands mine cancelled, AB's need for BC condensate won't spike. Oil prices are low & Alberta dilbit is a quite undesirable form of oil globally, so why expand BC fracking to supply failing tar sands with BC diluent?
2. What kind of deal, if any, is Trudeau making with Alberta to subsidize BC fracking (which is mostly Alberta & foreign co's, not BC) & is that to provide Alberta with condensate? Remember that Alberta itself is invested in #CoastalGasLink including its public sector pensions.
If any economists/oil industry analysts out there could jump in and answer these q's, correct anything here, or tell us why these are the wrong questions, that would be great.
PS Sing along with me: 'You say subsidy/ I say corruption/let's call the whole thing off!'
Friend just said "The money laundering in the petroleum industry is protected by the courts with injunctions that become the rule of law. Do I have that right?"
Friend just said "The money laundering in the petroleum industry is protected by the courts with injunctions that become the rule of law. Do I have that right?"
