Dilbit Is Not a Cartoon – The XL Pipeline

The purpose of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL 1,700 mile long pipeline is to carry diluted bitumen or dilbit from the tar sands of northern Alberta to refineries in Oklahoma and on the Gulf Coast in Texas. The pipeline, if built, would carry as much as 830,000 barrels of dilbit a day to the US refineries. It would cross six states including some environmentally sensitive areas where spills would be a disaster. Millions of dollars are being spent on a disinformation campaign by the Canadian company TransCanada and by the US oil companies that stand to make billions if the pipeline is built. One minor example of this is that the name Tar Sands has quietly been changed to Oil Sands, a much less nasty sounding name. Also, most news articles don’t call the tar sands product dilbit or diluted bitumen but refer to it as crude oil, synthetic crude oil or at worst heavy crude oil which gives the impression it’s just like the same crude oil we have always received from other sources.

In the short video below, Robert Redford who is known both for his work in films and his his environmental activities, explains why he thinks the XL Pipeline should not be built.

What in the World is Dilbit Anyway?

Dilbit is diluted bitumen and bitumen is a tar-like substance that is a naturally occurring type of petroleum found in the Canadian tar sands. Tar sand is considered to be an unconventional source of petroleum meaning that it doesn’t come from oil wells. Instead the tar sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques. Petroleum can also be extracted using underground heating. The recent combination of high oil prices and new technology has made mining the Canadian tar sands extremely profitable.

Bitumen is extremely viscous and flows to slowly to be pumped though a pipeline. In order to get it to flow the oil companies dilute it with other hydrocarbons. The amount and composition of these diluents is considered proprietary and is kept secret from the public. Even the US Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t know the exact composition of the of these diluents. The worry is that we don’t know, among other things, what damage these proprietary chemicals will cause when there is a spill or what their influence will be on the corrosion rate of the pipeline. Current pipelines carrying dilbit seem to corrode and burst more frequently than regular oil pipelines.

The many ruptures in the current dilbit pipelines have a lot of people concerned about its safety. One of the worst spills was the July 2010 Enbridge Energy pipeline leak that dumped 843,000 gallons of dilbit into the Kalamazoo River. The cleanup operation so far, has  involved more than 2,000 personnel, 150,000 feet of boom, 175 heavy spill response trucks, 43 boats and 48 oil skimmers with a cost that is expected to exceed $700 million.

Will the XL Pipeline Reduce Our Dependence on Foreign Oil?

The quick answer is NO. The Keystone XL is an export pipeline. According to the information given to investors, Gulf Coast refiners plan to refine the dilbit into diesel and other products for export to Europe and Latin America. It should also be highlighted that the proceeds from these exports will be tax-free. Much of the pipeline’s refined fuel will never reach our car’s gas tanks.

What About All Those Jobs the Pipeline Will Create?

TransCanada, the US oil companies and the Republican members of congress can’t seem to keep their numbers straight when it comes to how many jobs the XL Pipeline will create. The 2008 TransCanada permit application for the Keystone XL indicated a peak workforce of about 3,500 to 4,200 construction jobs to build the pipeline. Other estimates from TransCanada and others have ranged from several hundred jobs (Robert Jones, TransCanada’s Vice President for Keystone Pipelines, CNN, November 11, 2011) to 20,000 pipeline and 118,000 spin-off jobs to 250,000 jobs to over half a million jobs. The Republican Party claims over 100,000 jobs. Then there’s the researchers at Cornell University, people with no financial stake in the pipeline, who project as few as 2,500 short term jobs lasting about two years, and the State Department who puts the number as high as 6,000. Of course the number will be increased if you include all those  jobs that will be required to clean up the pipeline’s many spills that are almost certain to occur.