Posted on 04/08/2015 4:33:14 AM PDT by thackney
The growth in oil-train shipments fueled by the U.S. energy boom has stalled in recent months, dampened by safety problems and low crude prices.
The number of train cars carrying crude and other petroleum products peaked last fall, according to data from the Association of American Railroads, and began edging down. In March, oil-train traffic was down 7% on a year-over-year basis.
Railroads have been a major beneficiary of the U.S. energy boom, as oil companies turned to trains to move crude to refineries from remote oil fields in North Dakota and other areas not served by pipelines. Rail shipments of oil have expanded from 20 million barrels in 2010 to just under 374 million barrels last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
About 1.38 million barrels a day of oil and fuels like gasoline rode the rails in March, versus an average of 1.5 million barrels a day in the same period a year ago, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the railroad association’s data.
Oil-train traffic declined 1% in the fourth quarter of 2014 as crude-oil prices started to tumble toward $50 a barrel. More recently, data from the U.S. Energy Department show oil-train movements out of the prolific Bakken Shale in North Dakota have leveled off as drillers there have begun to pump less, though oil-train shipments from the Rocky Mountain region have risen.
The slowdown comes as federal safety experts call for stronger tank cars. On Monday the National Transportation Safety Board recommended an aggressive five-year schedule for phasing out or upgrading older railcars used to haul crude-oil. A string of oil train accidents in recent months have resulted in spills, intense fires and community evacuations. The NTSB said railcars in use today rupture too quickly and aren’t fire-resistant enough.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I reckon that all domestic crude shipments have slowed, not just rail. My concern is the rig count, where demand for sand and mud goes away too.
must be because of the employment boom /s
Probably some is sold or given away to whatever terrorist state needs it before it hits the track? Just like our tax money.
What???
Oh, you didn’t know? All that money we’ve given to Hamas, Pakistan, etc, etc, etc, etc.
How does that relate to oil production in the US by private companies?
Seriously, every morning (even when things were "OK") the venture capitalists on the conference calls would be in an absolute state of panic if the spread dropped a nickel. It was hard to know what they were thinking as far as what infrastructure was actually going to be funded. It was like a hard-core capitalist with A.D.D. went of his Ritalin... EVERY MORNING.
Anyways, production may be still growing, but who is buying it? If pipelines are (allegedly) at capacity and CBR is decreasing... what is going on? It's being trucked to storage facilities to wait out the oil crash?
US refining and consumption is not down.
If pipelines are (allegedly) at capacity
We keep building other pipelines if not the Keystone XL.
The WSJ chart says oil and fuel.
The article states: “The number of train cars carrying crude and other petroleum products peaked last fall, according to data from the Association of American Railroads”
Wouldn’t okaying the pipeline by Obama cure the problem somewhat?
Yes, the more oil moved by pipeline tends to means less oil moved in other methods.
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