Something to think about in the CNOOC takeover

I have been closely following the proposed takeover of NEXEN by CNOOC.  In all the rhetoric and verse that has been penned in past six months there appears to be a couple of items that have been overlooked.

If the Chinese spend $15.5 billion for an oil exploration company, with holdings in the Alberta oil sands, doesn't it follow that they may want to use some of the oil in China?  Yes?  So how will they get it from Ft McMurray to Shanghai.  The Northern Gateway Pipeline?

You may notice that the Harper government has been pretty quiet on the pipeline as of late.  Is it because they are talking with the Chinese about it?

Secondly, you can't help but applaud the speech given by John Baird at the UN this week.  Since we have no trade or relations with Syria and we do not seem to care about the UN, talk is what we do best.

But... where is the resistance at the UN over Syria coming from?  Primarily the Russians, we are told, but also from the Chinese.  So what are we going to do about that?  Nothing.  We will continue to trade with Russia and China wants NEXEN. 

Trade trumps human rights yet again.

Please check your facts, Mr. Harper

The PM and his minions at the PMO may be good communicators but maybe they should be better fact checkers also.  In his year end rah-rah interviews, Harper tells us that he is not worried about the problems with the Keystone XL pipeline project, designed to carry raw bitumen from Alberta to Texas, because he will sell the stock to China instead.  Fine idea but just one problem.

The North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) has a clause that maybe he should read again.

The clause is referred to as Proportionality.  In essence it states that Canada cannot reduce the percentage of oil and gas we now export to the United States even in times of domestic shortages.  That clause applies a percentage of our overall production that we must send to the US.  What does it mean when part of our production goes to China?  Does that mean that Canadians have to use less than we do now?  You can't take it from the allotment to the US so it has to come from somewhere.

In a report on Proportionality, co-author Gordon Laxer, a political economist at the University of Alberta, stated this: “The Canadian government must realize it is the only country in the world that has jeopardized the energy needs of its people in this way, and move quickly to exit the proportionality provisions of NAFTA.”

Maybe it is a problem, Steve?