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Capacity for expanded rail transport is impressive — trains could carry up to 1.4 million barrels a day. Just in case nobody noticed, major terminals are located at tidewater in Prince Rupert, Metro Vancouver, Saint John and on the Gulf of Mexico, the California coast and the Atlantic Coast of the United States.

So, a reality check. Alberta’s petroleum reserves are not landlocked.

This discussion is really about the rate of expansion for exports, about preferred modes of transport and about preferred routes.

Now, some believe Alberta’s oil reserves should stay in the ground. They muster environmental arguments. Some are cogent and reasonable. Some are disingenuous about intent, framing what’s really ideological opposition to any oil use.

Or they are simple Not in My Backyard self-interest.

Photo by JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Files

Others believe Alberta’s oil reserves must go to export markets. They muster economic arguments. Some are cogent and sound. Some represent only the resentment of thwarted entitlement. Some are simply dissimulating spin — propagating this “landlocked oil” meme, for example — to win support for accelerated exports.

The proposition that Alberta’s oil reserves are landlocked is emotive nonsense. That province’s energy sector is served by an extensive, sophisticated, highly efficient transportation infrastructure. The exports it carried to market increased every year from 2010 to 2015.

That’s why in 2014, in addition to proposed pipeline expansions to enhance delivery — Kinder Morgan’s controversial proposal would boost throughput from about 300,000 barrels a day to nearly 500,000 — there were a total of 27 railway loading terminals across the three Prairie provinces that were either in service or planned. Of these, 10 involved major expansions or new terminals.