Analyst: Pipeline Projects Key for Canada to Win N. America Oil Export Race

Pipelines Could Give Canada First-mover Advantage for North American Crude Oil Exports

A U.S. law enacted in 1975 in response to the oil crisis earlier that decade – the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) - largely prohibits crude oil exports from that country. Given the dramatic changes in the U.S. oil supply situation as a result of new domestic production from prolific shale plays such as the Eagle Ford and Bakken, producers, refiners, policymakers and others have been engaging in a debate over whether to ease export restrictions.

"With a stroke of a pen, the Obama administration could ease and/or eliminate the ban on crude exports from the U.S.," noted Carmine Rositano, GlobalData's managing analyst covering downstream oil and gas. "The law was enacted…in a different era and is not representative of today's energy environment."

The highly fractious political environment in Washington, D.C., coupled with the disagreement on lifting the ban within the domestic oil and gas industry itself (producers largely favor the idea while some refiners oppose it), diminish the chances for a quick resolution on the issue. The proposed infrastructure projects north of the border, however, may give Canada the edge in shaping the North American oil export scene, Rositano said:

Rigzone caught up with Rositano to discuss the crude oil export race underway in North America. Read on for his insights.