美加石油合作流产，加拿大人转向中国

    这是个上下颠倒、混乱不堪的世界。首先，虽然美国十年来一直在努力降低对所谓“不友好”国家出产石油的依赖，但日前美国政府还是取消了与加拿大的Keystone XL输油管道项目。该项目原本计划修建1,661英里的36英寸管道，将产自加拿大阿尔伯塔省的石油途经加拿大萨斯喀彻温省、美国的蒙大拿州、南达科他州、内布拉斯加州、堪萨斯州和俄克拉何马州，最终运到德克萨斯州阿瑟港进行精炼。无论如何，加拿大人也算不上不友好。然而，这个称作Keystone XL的项目已经变成了一个烫手的山芋。美国总统奥巴马由于担心惹恼左翼环保人士，已经放弃了这个项目。

    然而，这个项目原本预计能产生70亿美元的经济效益，并在建设过程中创造20,000个高薪制造业岗位。仅在德克萨斯州，该项目预计就将带来50,365人年的劳力需求和4,110万美元的州政府税收。即便是管道另一端的加拿大蒙大拿州也将享有5,531人年的劳力需求和750万美元的税收收入。（然而，这个项目最终还是搁浅，）看来人们根本不愁找不到工作，对吧？

    我们还是接着说说这个颠倒的世界吧。曾几何时，美国是北美洲的经济引擎。它幅员更辽阔，实力更雄厚，加拿大过去一直在搭这个邻国的顺风车。然而，今非昔比。如今，美国经济一团糟，而拟建管道的起点——阿尔伯塔省却是一片欣欣向荣，迥异于周边的惨淡景象。预计阿尔伯塔省2012年经济增长率将达到3.8%。如今，如果不提前至少两周预定，在阿尔伯塔省的卡尔加里可能连一间酒店客房也找不到。而在纽约，可能当晚去，当晚就能入住。

    难道这是第三次大逆转吗？加拿大人多年来一直努力推动该项目，但这次遭美国回绝后，他们并没有坐着干等，等待今秋大选后美国政治僵局自行解扣。加拿大总理哈珀突访中国，热情拥抱这个当今世界的另外一个强国，探讨如何将加拿大石油运往远东的问题。

    财富网（Fortune.com） 本周早些时候采访了阿尔伯塔省财政厅厅长罗恩•利贝尔特，从加拿大的角度一窥这个上下倒置的世界。

加拿大人对于Keystone计划流产有何感受？

    我们首先来看石油需求。美国每天进口石油约1,000万桶，目前有17%来自加拿大。我们有能力为美国供应更多石油，美国也可以无需再依赖那些可能不如加拿大友好的国家和地区。但首先必须允许我们把石油运过来才行。我们知道Keystone项目已在美国陷入了政治僵局。我们对此无能为力。但我们相信美国大选后很有可能会发生点什么。就算不是Keystone，也会是其他什么。

    The world has turned upside down. First, despite a decade-long exercise in hand-wringing about reducing American dependence on the oil of, shall we say, "unfriendly" governments, the U.S. just put the kibosh on a deal with Canada -- a deal that would have built a 1,661 mile, 36-inch pipeline to send oil from Alberta through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma to be refined in Port Arthur, Texas. Whatever you think about Canadians, they are not an unfriendly people. Called Keystone XL, the project was turned into a political football, and President Obama walked away from it for fear of enraging the environmental left.

    This despite the fact that the project was projected to provide a $7 billion economic stimulus and create 20,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs during its construction. In Texas, the project was projected to provide 50,365 person-years of employment and $41.1 million in state tax revenues. Even Montana, at the other end of the spectrum, might have enjoyed 5,531 person-years of employment and $7.5 million in tax revenues. It's not like people are looking for jobs these days, though, is it?

    But let's get back to the world turning upside down. It used to be that the U.S. was the economic engine of this continent. Canada rode sidecar to its much larger and more powerful neighbor. And that's the way it went. Well, the U.S. economy is in the crapper, and Alberta—home to the proposed pipeline—is a landlocked island of prosperity amidst otherwise disastrous western economies. Economic growth is projected to be 3.8% in Alberta in 2012. You can't get a hotel room in Calgary these days if you don't book at least two weeks in advance. You can probably get one for this evening in New York City.

    A third reversal? When the U.S. blew off the Canadians after years of work to get this pipeline going, the Canadians didn't just sit idly by and wait for U.S. political gridlock to resolve itself after this fall's election. Instead, Canadian Prime Minister Harper was suddenly in China, glad-handing that other world power and talking about just what it would take to get Canadian oil to the Far East.

    Fortune.com caught up with Alberta Finance Minster Ron Liepert earlier this week to get a sense of what this upside-down world looks like from the Canadian perspective.

How do Canadians feel about the collapse of the Keystone initiative?

    Let's start with the demand side. The U.S. imports somewhere in the range of 10 million barrels of oil a day. Seventeen percent of that is coming from Canada at the moment. But we have the ability to supply a lot more of the U.S. imports and not have you be reliant on…you name the place, but it's probably not as friendly as Canada. But you have to allow us to get it to you. We recognize that Keystone has been caught up in political gridlock in this country. It's out of our hands. But we also believe that there's a good chance something might happen after the election. And if it's not Keystone, it's going to be something else.