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Keystone XL Primer: Secrecy Still Shrouds Diluted Bitumen Risks
The Canadian crude oil that would flow through the Keystone XL pipeline is either the lynchpin of U.S. energy security or the path to certain environmental destruction, depending on whom you talk to. Advocates say there is no evidence that it is any more harmful than other types of oil; critics say there is insufficient evidence that it is safe. There is little information to support either side.
The oil that would flow through the pipeline is known as diluted bitumen, or dilbit, and it has become a lighting rod for controversy in the debate over the pipeline, which would send as much as 830,000 barrels every day from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to refineries as far as Texas. The pipeline would cross six states, sometimes passing through environmentally sensitive terrain where spills would be of special concern.
While bitumen has long been refined into oil, regulation of diluted bitumen has been slow to follow. Federal safety officials, for example, don't know precisely which chemicals shippers mix with bitumen to create dilbit. And even industry groups can't say exactly how corrosive dilbit is. Research is spotty and outdated; there have been no independent scientific studies exploring the relationship between dilbit and pipeline corrosion.
Here's a primer on what is—and isn't—known about dilbit.
What Exactly Is Diluted Bitumen, or Dilbit?
Bitumen is a tar-like type of petroleum that is a byproduct of the oil refining process as well as a naturally occurring substance found in the oil sands of Canada, Venezuela, the United States and other countries. These sands are considered unconventional deposits, meaning that the petroleum doesn't come from the oil wells that have traditionally supplied most of the world's crude. Instead tar sands deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques. The oil can also be extracted by underground heating. In recent years the combination of high oil prices and new technology has made harvesting bitumen extremely profitable. Analysts forecast that capital investment in the oil sands market will reach $45 billion over the next decade.
In its natural state, bitumen is extremely viscous and flows very slowly. To move it through pipelines, oil companies dilute it with chemicals called hydrocarbons to create diluted bitumen, or dilbit. The exact composition and quantity of these hydrocarbons—collectively called diluents—is considered proprietary information and is not shared with regulators.
The bitumen itself contains many of the same chemicals found in regular crude oils, said Carl Weimer, executive director of the independent, non-partisan Pipeline Safety Trust. But he said there are a lot of unanswered questions about the nature of the chemicals added to bitumen to make dilbit. "I think everybody has a good sense of the tar sands itself ... but the diluents used to move it through the pipeline is a whole separate issue."
While the Keystone project has focused the public's attention on Canadian bitumen, plans are also under way to mine bitumen in Utah.
Why Are People Worried?
Multiple reports of ruptures in pipelines that carry dilbit have raised concerns about its safety. Most dramatic was the July 2010 Enbridge Energy pipeline leak, which dumped 843,000 gallons of dilbit into the Kalamazoo River. The cleanup operation has so far involved more than 2,000 personnel, 150,000 feet of boom, 175 heavy spill response trucks, 43 boats and 48 oil skimmers. The cost is expected to exceed $700 million.
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"Global warming, stupid!"
This needs to be the motto of anyone who ever writes about any fossil fuel: "Global warming, stupid!"
The author doesn't get it when it comes to tar sands, arctic oil fields, shale gas, etc., so maybe this will help: Burning these hard-to-get fossil fuels in addition to the easy-to-get ones condemns the whole planet to such a high degree of global warming that we will drive the climate past a tipping point that will kill all of us and most other species and take millions of years to repair. Instead of refining and burning Tar Sands oil, we should be using our resources for renewables and conservation, which would stop the stampede to global warming, preserve the planet and climate as we know and love it, and employ a heck of a lot more people. The only force preventing civilization from saving itself from extinction is the fossil fuel industry, to whom most of government and the newzmedia submit.
Keystone Pipeline Diluent
Most crudes oils shipped in pipelines are actually blends of oils from different wells or regions. Crude oil from each well is actually a blend of hydrocarbons. Accordingly, the crude oil shipped in Keystone would be a blend of blends of hydrocarbons just like gasoline is a blend of different hydrocarbons.
As reported bitumen is heavy and doesn't flow well. In order to make it flow better, bitumen is mixed with a light hydrocarbon diluent. The most commonly used diluent is condensate. Condensate is a mixture of light hydrocarbons from refineries (that might otherwise become gasoline) and light carbons that are removed from natural gas (they wouldn't burn well in a furnace). Condensate varies a bit in quality so there might be some reluctance on the part of companies to define exactly what condensate will be in the future but it's present quality is not a secret. Check out the link below for quality information.
http://www.crudemonitor.ca/condensate.php?acr=CRW
Keyston XL Pipeline part 2
So any information the AB/Can government provides is nefarious in nature to say the least. What does all this mean for Americans? Only one thing, guess what? Get ready for lots of thick blue smog in your country. Not a problem, though because they will simply process all of this in a U.S. state that is equally as corrupt, and thus there will be no resistance. Our conservative politicos are a close-knit brotherhood of your Republican politicians. So, since you Americans are used to being lied to, this will not be a large adjustment for your population to absorb. If you want to stop this juggernaut of lying and deception by the Canadian Government and the Oil Companies, then we need “DEMOCRACY NOW!” Please send international election observers to Alberta for the next provincial Election coming in the spring. Conservatives like to call them in the spring so seniors do not dare step out on the icy sidewalks to go vote. Welcome to Hellberta, the land where “Democracy does not stop by anymore!” Our Air Quality is gross, and it is gross to live in Hell pit Edmonton. If you want grotesque amounts of AIR Pollution in your country, then by all means get out and vote to support the Keystone XL Pipeline. If need be, we can probably ship you some BSing’ Conservative politicians, you know just in case you are short a few to go with your giant pollution BARFING Tar Coker Towers. I bet you Americans can hardly wait for your very own 330ft. high Twin Coker Towers in your neighbourhood.[Sic]
Keystone XL Oil Sands pipeline
There is not one person living in Northern Alberta who does "not" know the truth about the Tar Sands as we and all norhtern Albertans have called them for over 30 years since I started working up in Ft. McMurray. Every northern Albertan can tell you about the pollution these extraction operations cause, particularly in the air. What is more repulsive is the huge amount of airborn pollution that is caused in Edmonton the most northern metropolis in Alberta. In this city of one million people, the city of Edmonton is lined on the east side of the city in the county of Stratcona with Oil Refineries. In the last 20 years the Oil Companies have been building large refineries out at Ft. Saskatchewan which is a huge refining and Chemical Industrial Complex, which has been on a constant expansion of Oil processing Complexes for decades now. What is interesting about this Industrial build-up is that in recent years, the Oil companies have began building their standard issue Tar Sands cookers. Since this crud is so dense, the Oil Processers have to use Billions of Cubic Feet of Natural Gas, and any other over abundance of surplus unamed gases[propane] to cook the Tar Goop in order to release the Oil Content. The amount of hydrocarbons being burnt in order to complete this process is staggering to say the least. They are quite possibly the largest consumer of natural gas in the entire province of Alberta now, save possibly the Plastics Chemical producers. Since Alberta does not have a legitimate Environmental Monitoring Agency, the Oil companies are given free reign to do basically what ever in the hell they damned well please. Why you ask? Because the Alberta government is the most corrupt government in Canada. These conservative crooks and cronies have been in power for over 40 years. They have manipulated every single law to the point where this province resembles something closer to a fascist regime than a legitimate Democratic entity. The governments ex-legislators and their cronies have even been charged with elections tampering. It is rampant out of control corruption here, and now one of this provinces son-of-a-Oil Companies prodigy is the Prime Minister of Canada. So basically Alberta has been given a wide open license to pollute at will, an this is backed up by the Federal Government and the Administration of Prime Minister Harper[Conservatives]. Dick Cheney even visited here to check out his investments. That is what this is all about. Houston Oil Executive run Alberta, our government is simply a bunch of stooges. So any data coming out of this hell hole is nothing but complete fabrication. The Alberta government auditor before he was skidded, reported that he was unable to even calculate how much Oil is flowing out of Alberta, because it appears nobody is even keeping accurate records. This is the mindset of this entire corrupt Oil Scheme here; The government and the bogus regulators "Do not even bother to keep accurate records". Why? Because they know when this entire mess does go sideways that they will have cleverly avoided prosecution. Their formula for disinformation is to not gather any. It is brilliant in its simplicity.
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