Conoco To Invest In Pipelines and Refinery Upgrade

ConocoPhillips Co. is prepared to spend billions of dollars on pipelines and refinery upgrades to allow it to process oil sands crude throughout its refinery network stretching to the U.S. Gulf Coast, company chairman Jim Mulva said Thursday.

The extension of the pipeline network into the Gulf Coast would open a vast new market for Canadian oil sands producers and help ensure that oil sands projects that have already been proposed could go ahead.

The industry is worried, however, that federal and local governments on both sides of the border could create a regulatory logjam that would stall the planned investments.

Mr. Mulva said the rapid development of the Canadian oil sands is a key goal as the U.S. seeks to reduce its dependency on imported oil from outside North America, while still meeting rising gasoline demand at home.