Post #3637128
2026-07-06 20:38 UTC
@pinhman@humanwords.party
As the article says, the pipeline will go to Sarnia “where it would connect with Ontario’s refining belt.” Currently Enbridge’s Line 5 feeds the refineries in Sarnia but it passes through Michigan and the state government wants it shut down because of the risk of an oil spill in the Mackinac Strait. An all Canadian route removes that risk (but not from oil spills…). Sarnia provides gasoline, propane and jet fuel for Ontario and Quebec, among other products.
However, if it’s oil sands production they expect to send to Sarnia, there’s a bit of a problem in that it has limited capacity to refine heavy crude compared to light crude. That’s why most of Alberta’s oil sands output goes to Gulf Coast refineries that can deal with large amounts of heavy crude.
🤷🏻♂️
Replies (1)
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@pinhman@humanwords.party 2026-07-06 21:05
@Sanderde@mstdn.ca , so heavy oil refining is also necessary for this pipeline to accomplish anything real. Are any of the multinationals prepared to invest in upgrading refineries in eastern Canada? (while they already have US refineries that do this ..) Otherwise this is just more political noise that accomplished nothing but political gain through division.