Are we now subsidising the oil patch?

[twobits]

I also agree with CA. Pipelines also lock in their prices years in advance. In some cases, they are guaranteed their revenue no matter the amount of oil moved. Pipelines are excellent investments.

Damn straight they have locked in a revenue stream before investing billions. Building/spending on this magnitude is not done on speculation of future customers. It is done on the basis of signed contracts for a percentage of line capacity. If a producer has signed a contract to buy X% of that pipelines capacity, they will either fill it, even at a loss per barrel or try to sell a portion of their capacity to someone else who might have a lower production cost at a discount just to mitigate some of their losses.
It would take a minimum of 3 yrs of sustained sub 75/bbl before large investment would redraw plans to a new horizon. Short term, yes, there will be a curtailment of exploratory holes, but that is hardly a new phenom in any cyclical commodity industry.