Canadian Tutelage (click here)
Back in 2007, Kuwait had much more ambitious plans for the Ratqa oil field.
Though the current goal is to suck 120,000 barrels per day of heavy oil out of the field, back in 2007 the goal was 900,000 barrels per day by 2020. And Alberta's petroleum engineers would lend their expertise to the cause, or at least that was the plan for Kuwait Oil Company at the time.
"Unless we seek the experience of the industry here, we will not be able to reach our target," Ali al-Shammari, at the time the deputy managing director for finance for the Kuwait Oil Company, told the Calgary Herald. "We will need [international oil companies'] help in developing the reservoirs and may also consider the options of signing enhanced technical services agreements."
Kuwait's entrance into Canada depicts how important Alberta's tar sands have become for the global geopolitical landscape. And Kuwait opening its doors to the oil majors depicts the country as an emerging player in the global oil market.
Kuwait got sold a pipe dream. The tar sands oil is not efficient and is far too costly to postpone the shift to alternative fuels. It is the matter of making the investment.
Will a pipeline so dangerous to water sources and farmland in the USA ever be built? No. T
he investment today demands alternative energy, reduction of greenhouse gases and very prudent use of water sources. The trend that took the USA to the brink of disaster has to be reversed and it won't happen overnight. There is no simple answer, but, one thing is true we have to start shifting the climate crisis as time is running out to salvage enough sustainable land. California's drought is a warning no one can ignore.
...Expensive and grainy. (click here) California produces a sizable majority of many American fruits, vegetables, and nuts: 99 percent of artichokes, 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots (and the list goes on and on). Some of this is due to climate and soil. No other state, or even a combination of states, can match California’s output per acre. Lemon yields in California, for example, are more than 50 percent higher than in Arizona. California spinach yield per acre is 60 percent higher than the national average. Without California, supply of all these products in the United States and abroad would dip, and in the first few years, a few might be nearly impossible to find. Orchard-based products in particular, such as nuts and some fruits, would take many years to spring back....
The risk for investment into petroleum products is far to high to continue to consider.
Kuwait is eleventh in production with about 2.96 percent of current global oil. I find it interesting the Kuwaitis are interested in investment for their country's income. They should seek to find investment that is more sustainable that will also supply it's treasury with enough income to benefit the Kuwaiti people.
