Read
- French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris
- REPEAT-Will immigration reform get killed in Republican-led U.S. House?
- Planetary alignment peaks with celestial show this weekend
- Rockets hit south Beirut after Hezbollah vows Syria victory
- Two believed dead as heavy rains flood San Antonio streets
|
Sponsored Links
Canada warns EU on oil sands ranking plan
TORONTO |
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada warned on Sunday it will "defend its interests" if the European Union (EU) goes through with a proposal to rank Canadian oil sands as a highly polluting fuel.
In a letter to EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver also said the European Commission's Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) potentially violates the EU's international trade obligations.
"Canada objects to policy measures that ignore evidence-based approaches to meet the stated goal of the FQD, in favor of what appears to be an asymmetrical and arbitrary proposal," the letter said.
"If unjustified, discriminatory measures to implement the FQD are put in place, Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests."
The letter is part of a broader push by Canada, the western province of Alberta and the energy industry to sway the EU from labeling the lucrative export as inherently dirty.
The government of Alberta, home to the bulk of Canada's oil sands, has written to EU experts voicing "grave concerns" that the bloc's plans to rank unconventional oil as a highly polluting fuel are unfair and a potential threat to trade ties.
EU legal advisers have said the proposals can probably be defended if Ottawa challenges the move at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Canada exports no oil sands-derived crude to Europe, but government and industry officials worry that tagging the supply as much more carbon-intensive than other crudes could set a costly precedent for current or potential markets.
Oliver has previously suggested Ottawa could take the EU to the WTO if the Europeans adopt the fuel directive. He has traveled to Europe to press Canada's case and in an interview with Reuters on Friday in London said the EU's plans were discriminatory.
Environmental groups say developing Canada's oil sands, the world's third largest crude deposit, emits unacceptably high volumes of greenhouse gases because the extraction methods and processing needed to allow refineries to use the heavy oil require far more energy than conventional oil production.
The energy industry says their oil sands operations are comparable in terms of carbon gas emissions with many other oil operations around the world, when judged from production to end use.
The latest letter was sent ahead of a meeting in which EU government experts will debate a proposed green ranking of fuels, which is designed to enable fuel suppliers to identify the most carbon-intensive options.
European oil companies active in Canada include BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell.
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Lyn Davignon wrote:
The Keystone oil pipeline is greatest tax evasion fraud in Canadian and
American history.
The Keystone oil pipeline is exactly that and this is how they are going to
do it.
The pipe line is going to carry liquefied unprocessed oil sand to the USA.
1- By exporting unprocessed oil sand the oil companies do not have to pay
any oil royalties to Alberta, Canada or First Nations.
2- Because they are exporting products from Canada the oil companies are eligible for a wide variety of tax exemptions and tax credits from the
federal Government.
3- The pipe line and its operation is 100% tax deductible so it costs them nothing.
4- They will sell the oil sand to an American subsidiary for less than the
cost of digging it out, this way they can claim a large income tax loss.
5 – The American subsidiary does not have to pay any oil royalties to the American or State Governments because it is imported.
6 – The pipe line and its operation is 100% tax deductible so it costs them nothing so the American subsidiary pays no taxes.
7- The refining will be done in the US so they can pay lower wages than
they would pay in Canada.
8 – Because they are exporting products from the USA the oil companies are eligible for a wide variety of tax exemptions and tax credits from the US and State Governments.
9 – The oil refineries sell the refined oil to their foreign subsidiaries at cost, so they do not have to pay any taxes to the US.
10 – Then their foreign subsidiaries sell the refined oil back to their own oil companies at the global oil price, the imported price for the recalculated oil is 100% tax deductable.
This is how the oil companies will cheat the taxpayers out of 100’s of billions of dollars.
Canadian and American taxpayers are the ones that get screwed by the
corrupt politicians.
This is why the Harper Conservatives and the American, Democrat and
Republican politicians are in bed with the oil companies and how they get
their grease money for their elections and well stuffed pockets.
Follow the money and you will find the truth.
Lyn Davignon
National Non Profit Party http://nationalnonprofitparty.ca/
Follow Reuters