It is very frustrating to see people repeating some media BS
- No business, especially traditional oil and mining is sustainable in a long run if it is not profitable. The Alberta oil sands are profitable at the oil price around 30-40$/ barrel (depends on how you count, current price of labor etc.). They would be much more profitable with Keystone pipeline with the switch from the crude to gasoline exports from Texas refineries. These now operate on similar heavy crude from Venezuela and other sources that in fact have lobbied WH to cancel Keystone.
- The gigantic government subsidies to the oil sands industry are a myth. Most of these subsidies are in the form of tax breaks and other similar noncash initiatives and return to the government many times over through taxation of salaries, exports etc.
- Sure, Russian gas is relatively cheap, though production is much more expensive than say in Quatar as it is mined above polar circle in very difficult environment. Nevertheless, it is much cheaper than shipping LNG and thus difficult to compete with. Therefore the pressure from LNG producers to limit the Russian gas exports.
Ah yes, all mainstream media is BS. True ‘freedom’ fighters shall refer only to approved right-wing websites.
No business is sustainable in the long run if it is not profitable? That’s what academics teach in Econ101. In the real world, it happens all the time. Want a more traditional industry than oil & gas? What about farming? US corn growers, European sugar beet producers, Japanese rice farmers have been subsidized by their respective governments for eons and the subsidies are still continuing with no end in sight. Want to make it even more sustainable? Then simply divert the taxes from productive parts of the oil & gas sector to the non-profitable sector.
Want to see if Alberta tar sands are truly profitable? See if profit-driven MNCs want to invest? ExxonMobile, Shell, ConocoPhilips, Marathon have all withdrawn from the Alberta tar sands industry at a loss. Only the Canadian oil companies are left, probably because they are better positioned to collect their own government’s subsidies that are disguised as tax breaks, training grants, rebates, low-interest loans, etc.
Qatar has lower extraction costs than Russia, what difference does that make? Both are petrostates making lots of money selling natural gas. As you yourself pointed out - Russian natural gas is extracted in difficult conditions & Qatar natural gas requires liquefaction to become LNG for shipping to faraway export markets. You don’t see Russia or Qatar needing extensive debate or govt commissioned white papers to justify the profitability of their oil & gas industries. The proof is in the money.
Back to topic on President Biden’s awesomeness - his plan to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
The court must be an representative institution in touch with all of American life.
www.nytimes.com