Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is proposing Ottawa get into the crude-by-rail business.
As her province’s heavy oil producers deal with a punishing price gap between their product and U.S. light oil, Notley says that amounts to money being taken out of the Canadian economy and sucked into American bank accounts.
According to Canadian Press, the differential is about US$40 a barrel and has been as high as $52 in recent weeks.
Notley says new coastal pipelines to get access to international markets are necessary in the long term to get Alberta producers a better price.
In the meantime, she says, Ottawa should look to invest in moving oil to market on rail cars.
“We are in the midst of putting together a specific business case that we’ll be taking to the federal government late this week, early next week, where we lay out the specific costs,” Notley told Canadian Press Monday after a meeting with oil and gas industry leaders.
She said more rail cars and locomotives are needed, but she didn’t have the potential number or cost at her fingertips.
(Canadian Press)
