The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Canadian crude producers face increasingly tough competition in the Asia-Pacific market. The Globe's Shawn McCarthy writes that is the warning from Environment Canada which came soon after the National Energy Board recommended Ottawa approve Kinder Morgan's TransMountain expansion. The warning contrasts with the more optimistic market outlook that buttressed the NEB's conclusion that the benefits of Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion outweighed the burdens, and that therefore the $5.4-billion (U.S.) project is in the national interest. Environment Canada noted that producers from OPEC and Russia are competing aggressively to supply Chinese demand, while some analysts forecast the Pacific market has excess refining capacity. The Liberals have not laid out a strict "climate test" that would result in the rejection of any project that added substantially to Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. That was the litmus test cited by U.S. President Barack Obama in rejecting TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline last November. Instead, the GHG assessment will be one factor that cabinet will consider in deciding whether to approve the Kinder Morgan project.