Keystone pipeline question...

[Bay Boy]

...the maps I see show it going down to Texas or Louisiana. Why does it need to go so far south?
Why can't there be refineries say in the midwest or maybe even in Canada?

[bhikkhu]

1. The raw oil goes down to where there are refineries already

because its cheaper.

Otherwise, you build new refineries somewhere else and then still need to build pipelines and transport infrastructure to move the refined products along.

[oldhippie]

2. And trying to build new refineries ....

... is a pretty much impossible dream. The raw crude must go to existing refineries, or be shipped off-shore.

It appears that we don't want new refinery jobs that bad. Other countries do.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Because Texas and Louisana are on the Gulf.

And, the tankers that will transport that shit elsewhere, once it is refined, can most easily access the refineries from these two states. Way too many people still think this oil will be "ours", and that it's going to be used here. It will be sold to the highest bidder.

As for it not being refined in Canada, they don't want to risk soiling their own country:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gateway-pipeline-poses-unknown-environmental-threat

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hunter-cutting/keystone-exporting-canadian-oil_b_2798379.html

[Bay Boy]

7. I suppose the reason the refineries are in TX & LA

is so that everytime there is a hurricane predicted they can jack up the price of gas.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Actully, they are there because that's where the oil is.

There are huge oil deposits in TX and LA, as well as in the Gulf.

[pediatricmedic]

4. They have ports that can handle big tankers

[jmowreader]

5. It needs to go so far south because the oil will all be exported

Take a closer look at those maps: that line runs to refineries close to the Port of Galveston, where America exports finished petroleum products. If they were going to sell the products in the US the logical place to send the oil would be Wyoming, where there are refineries already. The pipeline would be cheaper, it would be easier and faster to build and it wouldn't cross the Ogalalla Aquifer. More importantly, very few people would protest if they were running the oil that short a distance.

The intent of the Keystone XL pipeline is to send the oil to export refineries where it will be converted into finished products and shipped overseas. And that's why it goes so far south.

[pkdu]

6. ^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^

It will NOT make gas cheaper or create long term jobs in USA