Thursday, January 19, 2012
OKLAHOMA CITY –Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak today voiced his displeasure that the Obama administration has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline project, saying the president killed Oklahoma job opportunities and dealt a setback to American energy independence in the face of undue environmental concerns.
“The project would have created an estimated 1,200 jobs for Oklahomans – positions in the oil and gas business at which our state’s workforce excels,” Doak said.
Pipelines are safer, the commissioner noted, than any other means of delivering crude oil from the fields where it is produced to the facilities where it is refined. When pipeline leaks do occur, experts estimate, 80 percent involve a loss of fewer than 50 barrels of oil. By contrast, oil tanker disasters frequently result in oil spills measured in the tens of millions of barrels, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill resulted in a reported 4.9 million barrels of oil escaping into the Gulf of Mexico.
“North America’s oil and gas companies devote considerable attention to risk management, capitalizing on Canadian oil sands is safer and more cost-effective than deepwater drilling for oil, and the world insurance market is capable of underwriting the pipeline’s risks and restoring any environmental damage that might occur,” Doak said.
Weaning America from foreign oil also reduces our national interest in more dangerous parts of the world, Doak concluded.
“The Keystone XL pipeline would decrease our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and increase our national security as a result,” Doak said. “This project meant jobs, true environmental stewardship and greater energy independence, all goals the president should be quick to support, not obstruct.”
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About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.
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For more information:
Glenn Craven
(405) 522-1769
e-mail: glenn.craven@oid.ok.gov