North America - Oil Transport By Rail

murray83 wrote:I wonder if both CN trains were Irving bound?

Both CN trains that derailed and caught fire in Northern Ontario were destined for Valero's Jean Gaulin Refinery in Lévis, Quebec.

Baker Hughes reported the ND rig count today at 98... the lowest since the early stages of the boom in 2010.

I will be interested to see what the car loadings look like in the AAR reports over the course of this year. I think intermodal is likely to be very heavy.

Related Subject matter

Two interactive maps detailing North American Crude Oil by Rail
http://infomapsplus.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... erica.html
(View "Agnostic Politically" - they are chock full of info - especially the second one)

Cowford wrote:Baker Hughes reported the ND rig count today at 98... the lowest since the early stages of the boom in 2010.

Hate to tell you guys but the reality is that things are going to get worse. While production has actually been increasing, drilling has fallen off drastically and stands to fall off even more.

Since January over 150,000 people have been laid off in the oil and gas industry (including me).

Although I doubt the rr's have seen the full effects of this yet, I'm telling you guys it is coming eventually. Production continues to remain high primarily because the wells already in production, cannot be shut in. It ruins them.

After 6 months the production of a shale well drops by 50% (although still produces a lot), and looses another 50% six months later. Given that things were still going fairly strong through February, I would anticipate that you guys will really feel the effects by later this year.

Either way, the reality is that the volume of cars you are getting out of there would drop eventually, even if oil was at $100 still. The prime reservoirs in the Bakken were starting to get tapped out the last 12 months forcing oil companies to go after ones that are more difficult to access.

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article regarding the factors affecting safety in the transport of crude by all modes:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-tran ... 1442197722" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

In the early days of the petroleum industry, transporting oil meant horse-drawn wagons carrying leaky wooden barrels over bumpy dirt roads—and lots of accidents.

Things have changed a lot since then. But the accidents haven’t gone away. In some ways, they’ve gotten worse.

The boom in domestic production in recent years has brought an ugly side effect: mishaps when transporting the fuel to refineries. These accidents have led to fatalities—one train crash in Canada in 2013 killed 47 people—as well as vast environmental damage, such as the pipeline burst in California this May that spilled as much as 143,000 gallons of crude into the Pacific Ocean and onto pristine beaches.

The growing sense of potential danger has prompted critics and industry officials to ask: What is the safest way to transport oil? And are there ways to make the current methods safer? Among other things, they’re proposing tougher safety regulations, and using technological fixes like machines that travel along pipelines, looking for weak spots.

One thing is certain: None of the existing methods of transport—rail, boats, trucks and pipelines—is going away. The oil industry believes the best thing to do, in terms of safety, profits and efficiency, is to keep all options on the table and make sure they are as safe as possible. “All four modes have always and will always be with us,” says Kenneth Green, who has spent years researching crude-oil transportation safety for the Canada-based Fraser Institute. “What institutions must ensure is that the most oil moves by the safest way, with the caveat of ensuring we protect the health of humans and the environment.”

Here’s a look at the four methods, and what’s being done to shore them up.

If this content is presently paywall protected (as a Journal print subscriber, I cannot determine the status of such), the Journal does have a policy of "declassifying" such. So be sure to check back, as this should be of interest to all who follow these affair.

Finally, I think sooner or later the Saudis are going to realize the folly of their ways with the dumping of crude on to the world markets - and I hope that realization comes before the Iranians fully re-enter same as I believe they would be suspect of following the Saudis suit. Even if I am on record at these crude related topics that some "Sheik of Araby" was going to pull such a stunt (even if I did not foresee that it would be the most stable regime in the region), it won't be forever and the North American producers will be back in the game.

National Public Radio had a reasonably toned report about shortline railroads using excess capacity to stored unneeded and aged, but not yet cleaned of toxic chemicals and/or crude oil or otherwise prepared for new use, tank cars.

Ed Ellis, the head of Iowa Pacific, spoke and was a reasonably articulate defender of the situation... One which will net his company more than a million dollars in revenue per year. The focal point of the story was appprox. 5 miles of unused tank cars that will be stored on the Saratoga and North Creek. Some folks are worried about potential leaks into the pristine waters of the area.

Honestly, I'm split on this one. Who knows if the cars will be stored long enough for potential leaks to occur through corrosion or even vandalism/low end sabotage? The cars need to go somewhere, but there are probably hundreds of miles of excess capacity in unused yards (places already polluted) that the large railroads have mothballed throughout the country. Heck, unused rail lines aboard military reservations might be an ideal place, plus would help generate revenue for the service who owns the track. Tobyhanna Army Depot, Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, Albany Logistics Base, Fort Leomard Wood, Earle Ammunition Depot, or perhaps abandoned bases like the one along Finger Lakes Railroad...the list of military bases with extra capacity and security is pretty long.

I trust Ed Ellis and his railroads will do all in thier power to keep incidents from occurring, but no shortline has the revenue available for full time security and monitoring of the conditions of hundreds or thousands of rail cars.

Thank you to NPR for an excellent report. Neither preachy nor biased, like the mainstream media (Fox News and MSNBC) in particular.

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/ ... high-peaks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Link to the NPR material immediately noted by Mr. Faithful.

Additional NPR material:

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/ ... arks-anger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Too bad my first wife wasn't Mrs. Faithful.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article regarding the factors affecting safety in the transport of crude by all modes:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-tran ... 1442197722" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

In the early days of the petroleum industry, transporting oil meant horse-drawn wagons carrying leaky wooden barrels over bumpy dirt roads—and lots of accidents.

Things have changed a lot since then. But the accidents haven’t gone away. In some ways, they’ve gotten worse.

The boom in domestic production in recent years has brought an ugly side effect: mishaps when transporting the fuel to refineries. These accidents have led to fatalities—one train crash in Canada in 2013 killed 47 people—as well as vast environmental damage, such as the pipeline burst in California this May that spilled as much as 143,000 gallons of crude into the Pacific Ocean and onto pristine beaches.

The growing sense of potential danger has prompted critics and industry officials to ask: What is the safest way to transport oil? And are there ways to make the current methods safer? Among other things, they’re proposing tougher safety regulations, and using technological fixes like machines that travel along pipelines, looking for weak spots.

One thing is certain: None of the existing methods of transport—rail, boats, trucks and pipelines—is going away. The oil industry believes the best thing to do, in terms of safety, profits and efficiency, is to keep all options on the table and make sure they are as safe as possible. “All four modes have always and will always be with us,” says Kenneth Green, who has spent years researching crude-oil transportation safety for the Canada-based Fraser Institute. “What institutions must ensure is that the most oil moves by the safest way, with the caveat of ensuring we protect the health of humans and the environment.”

Here’s a look at the four methods, and what’s being done to shore them up.

If this content is presently paywall protected (as a Journal print subscriber, I cannot determine the status of such), the Journal does have a policy of "declassifying" such. So be sure to check back, as this should be of interest to all who follow these affair.

Finally, I think sooner or later the Saudis are going to realize the folly of their ways with the dumping of crude on to the world markets - and I hope that realization comes before the Iranians fully re-enter same as I believe they would be suspect of following the Saudis suit. Even if I am on record at these crude related topics that some "Sheik of Araby" was going to pull such a stunt (even if I did not foresee that it would be the most stable regime in the region), it won't be forever and the North American producers will be back in the game.

Although the Saudis and OPEC members are hurting, it looks as if American Shale producers finally broke as production is projected to drop substantially next quarter. American producers had been fighting back by continuing to produce by uncapping a lot of previously drilled wells, essentially increasing production with money already spent.

As for modes of transportation, O&G industry seems to favor pipelines in general and many argue it is the safest means of transporting oil and gas. Personally, I'm not sold on it but its a subject beyond my level of knowledge and expertise.

Who knows anymore. American oil and gas workers continue to get laid off, hiring freezes remain in effect, and no one in and around the industry here in North America is overly optimistic about things these days. Ultimately, that is all I care about. 250,000 people have now been laid off since January but you do not read about this in the mainstream news for some reason !!!

Most of my fellow unemployed oilfield brothers including me, are looking to other fields to find work. We don't think things will come back anytime soon.

The steelworkers of america say "hello".

Also the textile workers.

Also the shoe workers.

Also the TV and radio manufacturers.

Hostess workers.

Oreo makers.

Car parts.

I think you get the picture.

The McLaughlin Group discussion panel which airs on various PBS outlets as well as a webcast, has an opening segment regarding possibility of selling US Crude Oil for export. Presently, any such sale is prohibited by law.

A review of the segment within the Sep 25 airing, could stimulate discussion of that topic here. Naturally, our discussion will focus upon railroad transportation, should legislation repealing the ban be enacted:

http://www.mclaughlin.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Off topic TV show review (Mr. Smith; if killed, I'll understand)

I'm sure if Mr. Marnos were to watch the ABC Sunday Nite Soap "Blood and Oil", he would have a good laugh.

Bakken and North Dakota are in the script, but beyond that, it is filmed in Utah near the Wasatch Mtns - and the Ogden train station (a mixed use structure including a museum nowadays) gets a role as a stage prop for a worker camp. Railroads are otherwise invisible - and I think that is how the UP wants it. A viewer would think that Bakken Crude is all handled by truck.

Otherwise an hour of duplicity, skullduggery, and backstabbing that are all part of the Soap genre:

http://mashable.com/2015/09/28/blood-an ... 6NDEtGQEqf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Off topic TV show review (Mr. Smith; if killed, I'll understand)

I'm sure if Mr. Marnos were to watch the ABC Sunday Nite Soap "Blood and Oil", he would have a good laugh.

Bakken and North Dakota are in the script, but beyond that, it is filmed in Utah near the Wasatch Mtns - and the Ogden train station (a mixed use structure including a museum nowadays) gets a role as a stage prop for a worker camp. Railroads are otherwise invisible - and I think that is how the UP wants it. A viewer would think that Bakken Crude is all handled by truck.

Otherwise an hour of duplicity, skullduggery, and backstabbing that are all part of the Soap genre:

http://mashable.com/2015/09/28/blood-an ... 6NDEtGQEqf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hehehehe

I wasn't able to catch any of the show but my fellow oilfield friends said I was better off. So unrealistic, that apparently it seriously confused them about what was actually going on. Something about a work over right and using shovels to dig a well with guys referred to as mudlogers or some such thing.

Nothing about the initial episode made sense to them.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the web today and in print tomorrow that the imports of oil are rising. Obviously that is at the expense of domestic production - and the railroads that haul such:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/after-years ... 1445851800" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

U.S. imports of foreign oil are rising again after a long decline, as the oil bust forces domestic producers to scale back.

Less than a year after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries opted to continue production despite plummeting prices, member countries including Saudi Arabia and Iraq are clawing back market share they ceded to oil companies pumping in Texas and North Dakota.

U.S. crude imports declined 20% between 2010 and 2014 amid the domestic energy boom but have recently started to rise again. Total crude-oil imports rose for three straight months between April and July, according to the most recently available data from the Energy Information Administration. Imports of light crude grew more rapidly, from 5.6% of total imports in April to 11% in July.

On the Gulf Coast, vessels carrying nearly a week’s worth of imports waited offshore Friday to unload, according to shipping tracker ClipperData.

The slowdown in the nation’s shale-oil output has pushed up the price of high-quality U.S. oil relative to global prices, giving U.S. refiners a reason to buy from countries such as Nigeria. Until very recently, the boom in U.S. shale-oil production forced countries that exported oil to the U.S. to hustle for new customers.

Mr. Marnos will likely agree; I believe that this is "the sum of all fears" for the domestic producers and the railroads.

One dubious "plus": Keystone XL is likely on the back burner somewhere.