Features

A TransCanada executive said opponents of the Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline should consider one consequence of delays in building the oil pipeline - an increase in dirtier and more dangerous rail transport. Alex Pourbaix, president of energy and oil pipelines at the Calgary-based pipeline company, said although rail has an important role to play in moving oil sands crude to market, there are downsides to consider.

A panel discussion was recently waged by a Canadian, an American and a Mexican talking about North America’s energy future as the new Middle East for the rest of the world. Hyperbole was cheap, but chances of the provocative scenario becoming a reality ride squarely on the shoulders of Mexico. And everyone was OK with this.

The Eagle Ford Shale, stretching from the mid-south of Texas just shy of Corpus Christi north nearly to San Antonio and west to the Mexican border, continues to attract massive investments from energy companies. It’s not hard to see why. The play contains economically recoverable light crude oil and natural gas liquids in high proportion to currently low-priced gas.

It isn’t hard to find companies that traditionally would not be involved in pipelines taking an active role in the industry. When an executive who is arms-deep in software technologies finds a special liking for the energy business, and is located about as far away from pipelines as one can be in the United States, he, too, must be a special individual.