Rising
gasoline prices have helped proponents of a controversial pipeline
proposal press their case that the project would help ease supply
bottlenecks and lower prices for consumers.
They’re half right.
The
proposed pipeline would relieve a glut of crude oil backing up in the
Midwest and redirect those barrels to Gulf of Mexico ports. From there
they could be shipped to world markets and repriced at higher
global prices.
But that likely would mean higher prices for
drivers in the nation's midsection, who currently are enjoying an
unusual discount stemming from a lack of pipeline capacity. On Monday, TransCanada Corp., the company that wants to build the pipeline, said it would start construction of a southern leg while it tries to satisfy environmental concerns raised by the Obama administration that have blocked the longer northern leg.
Oil prices around the world have been rising steadily since
October largely because of tightening sanctions on Iran being imposed
by the U.S. and European countries over its suspected development of
nuclear weapons.
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