Posted on 12/09/2014 1:33:41 PM PST by thackney
North Dakota is poised to impose the strictest oil standards in its history on Tuesday, requiring every barrel of crude to be filtered for dangerous types of natural gas in an effort to make crude-by-rail transport safer.
The new requirements come as federal, state and local officials grapple with how best to ensure the safe transport of North Dakota's crude oil, which has been linked to a string of fiery crude-by-rail explosions, including one last year in Quebec that killed 47 people.
Governor Jack Dalrymple and the two other members of the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) are taking the first concrete regulatory steps to sanitize the state's oil. They nearly approved a previous set of standards last month before asking staff members for last-minute tweaks and additional public comment.
The triumvirate, which includes Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, now appears set to bless the updated standards so the oil industry can begin implementing them by February.
Because most of the oil extracted in the United States via hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking," is transported on rail and because North Dakota is the second-largest oil-producing state after Texas, the new standards will have a ripple effect throughout the nation.
At its core, the standards will require crude extracted from the state's shale formations - more than 1.1 million barrels per day - to be processed through machinery set at mandated temperatures and pressures, which the NDIC believes will remove the most amounts of propane, butane and other volatile natural gas liquids (NGLs) naturally found in oil.
Some producers do this now; the NDIC aims to make all comply.
The goal would be to produce a barrel of North Dakota crude oil with vapor pressure of no more than 13.7 pounds per square inch (psi),...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Undoubtedly meant to make rail transport uneconomical, and thus undercut the boom.
More expensive oil, because Obama won’t approve Keystone.
But doesn’t that screw regime affiliate Berkshire Hathaway?
Winner winner chicken dinner!
Warren Buffet is funding the fight against the Keystone pipeline because he is making millions transporting the oil by rail.
Two miles difference in the place of the derailment, and there could have been dozens of deaths in Casselton proper. Twenty miles and there could have been hundreds in Fargo.
Large quantities of crude oil should be shipped by pipeline.
Separating the light ends and gases out of the crude oil will make it safer to ship. Also new railcars will help. This is probably a good idea. It won’t help anyone if there is a big accident.
it can contain H2S. One shouldn't sniff very much of it. It makes you very dead.
Dint even waste my time tryin to splain.
Cheap gas is making liberals heads explode, as the teeming masses hit the streets to spew evil carbon....
A pipeline would solve the whole problem.
No, people will still use the oil.
its probably meant to just remove more liability from Warren Buffett and his railroads - and other people pay for it.
Keystone supporters should display a death count for all the lives lost (so far) due to the delay of the pipeline.
At least three former governors (Bill Langer, Bill Guy, George Sinner) are from Casselton. At one time, it had the highest number of millionaires per capita in the United States. This is prime cropland with arguably the most fertile soil in the country against a relatively small population base. You don't need a much larger than average farm to be a millionaire here.
http://eaglefordtexas.com/news/id/141774/ndic-decide-oil-conditioning-standards-tomorrow/
North Dakota regulators have been debating whether or not to require crude conditioning practices at well sites prior to shipment in order to increase transportation safety. Most oil companies think it is too costly and unnecessary. The decision was delayed last month, but Forum News Service reported that at 3 p.m on Tuesday the commission will hold a meeting to make a decision. The order would require special equipment to separate butane and propane from the crude. Each well site would have to reach a certain vapor pressure level. This concerns oil companies because they believe that it would not only cost more to run the site, but the risk of fires is greatly increased. If passed, crude conditioning standards would be mandatory as soon as Feb. 1 of 2015.
Due to a recent expose released by The New York Times, the Industrial Commission has been under much scrutiny for how so few regulatory policies in the state are enacted. It will be interesting to see how they handle this controversial topic. Oil conditioning is a common practice in other heavy production areas such as Texas. Another interesting topic that might be discussed at the meeting will be if falling crude prices will slow production and if the implementation of these standards will only make the situation worse.
This helps reduce the risk of the rail company while putting the cost on the oil company.
That is a great idea! Too bad our elected officials couldn’t figure that out.
When I was an engineer for facilities at North Slope Alaska, the Alpine and other far western fields had to do this even for the pipeline transport. We had a very light oil from that location and the vapor pressure was causing problems is a system originally designed for far lower.
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