Buried within this New York Times article on the massive expansion of a half-Saudi owned refinery in Port Arthur, Texas is a fascinating buried lede:
The refinery is designed primarily to refine various grades of Saudi crude and crudes that Shell produces in the Gulf of Mexico, but it has the flexibility to process crude from Canadian oil sands and from other American and Latin American fields. (The proposed Keystone XL pipeline being considered by the Obama administration would connect the Canadian oil sands fields to Port Arthur, a major refinery hub.)
Now, this won't be the latest Gulf Coast refinery that can handle heavy oil, but Canadian tar sands aren't the only ones flowing into Port Arthur. I wonder if Sean Penn will be on site to protest a facility that can handle the Orinoco oil sands?