Trains carry more oil across the U.S.

[pica]

An article in USA Today says that energy companies behind the oil boom on the Northern Plains are increasingly turning to trains to carry more crude to refineries across the US as plans for new pipelines stall and existing lines cannot keep up with demand.

The number of trains carrying crude has jumped from 10,000 in 2009 to a projected 200,000 has experts and federal regulators concerned about safety.

[AARR]

The number of trains carrying crude has jumped from 10,000 in 2009 to a projected 200,000 has experts and federal regulators concerned about safety.

200,000 = 548 trains per day and at an average of 100 cars per train that's 20 million carloads of crude oil per year

[pica]

The article goes on to say that BNSF Railway Co., the major player in the increase has bolstered it's oil train capacity to a million barrels a day and has increased train size from 100 cars per train to as many as 118 cars per train.

[Saturnalia]

Currently, orders for new tanks far exceed the supply. That's actually slowing things down!

With the Keystone XL sidelined ( ), more demand is moving to trains ( ). In the oil industry's opinion, some flow is better than nothing.

Not to mention all the frac sand and chemicals moving about the railroads.

That means that the railroads not only ship in supply, they ship out the product. And that means profit.

Meanwhile, NS & CSX are sad having watched the last 2 energy booms go to BNSF & UP. On the other hand, Buffet is enjoying his BNSF investment...

[MSchwiebert]

Big picture is that BNSF is benefitting from the Bakken Crude in the Dakotas and not the Alberta tar sands, which is what the Keystone XL would carry. Also both CSX & NS are benefitting from the transporting of the Bakken Crude to both East Coast Refineries & East Coast ports, so it's not like they're "shut out" from the opportunity. The Keystone XL would get tar sand oil to the gulf coast refineries. Obviously, the tar sand based product is transported & refined now - just not to where the US refinery base is centered (for example BP & Husky are in the works to make their Toledo OH refinery able to refine the tar sand based product).

[Standard Railfan]

Big picture is that BNSF is benefitting from the Bakken Crude in the Dakotas and not the Alberta tar sands, which is what the Keystone XL would carry. Also both CSX & NS are benefitting from the transporting of the Bakken Crude to both East Coast Refineries & East Coast ports, so it's not like they're "shut out" from the opportunity. The Keystone XL would get tar sand oil to the gulf coast refineries. Obviously, the tar sand based product is transported & refined now - just not to where the US refinery base is centered (for example BP & Husky are in the works to make their Toledo OH refinery able to refine the tar sand based product).

The BP Whiting (Indiana)refinery is also in the middle of an upgrade that will allow refining of "heavy" crude.

[husker56]

Meanwhile, here in the Sooner State I'm seeing unit oil trains rolling on BNSF and UP full of Bakken Shale oil, plus unit frac sand trains (3 a day on the former MKT) rolling south to the Barnett Shale deposits in Texas. Add the unit ethanol trains, and there's an upswing in energy business. On BNSF, the oil trains get turned over to the Stillwater Central in Tulsa, which moves it to Stroud, OK, and the pipeine terminal there. On the UP, the oil trains roll on south to the refineries in Texas.

[Old Hogger]

Alabama and Gulf Coast just got a new unloading terminal at Walnut Hill, FL

http://investor.railamerica.com/phoenix ... id=1726548

[JDavis21835]

Big picture is that BNSF is benefitting from the Bakken Crude in the Dakotas and not the Alberta tar sands, which is what the Keystone XL would carry. Also both CSX & NS are benefitting from the transporting of the Bakken Crude to both East Coast Refineries & East Coast ports, so it's not like they're "shut out" from the opportunity. The Keystone XL would get tar sand oil to the gulf coast refineries. Obviously, the tar sand based product is transported & refined now - just not to where the US refinery base is centered (for example BP & Husky are in the works to make their Toledo OH refinery able to refine the tar sand based product).

The BP Whiting (Indiana)refinery is also in the middle of an upgrade that will allow refining of "heavy" crude.

The Marathon Refinery in Detroit has gone through the HOUP, Heavy Oil Upgrade Project. This oil will eventually go back to pipelines. The sad state of affairs is a lot of the pipelines in this country, like a lot of our other infrastructure, is in a state of decline due to its age. Enbridge has learned its lesson with the Kalamazoo spill, and they are working on rebuilding, repairing, and upgrading that line.