Bakken

Train Waybills Unlock Crude Oil Mysteries

By |

We’ve been tracking the rise of crude oil moving on railroads over the past few weeks, and we’ve learned a great deal. Some things we know:

A lot more crude oil is traveling by rails now than it was a few years ago, the equivalent of one railroad tank car every 77 seconds. Several recent crude-by-rail accidents have been deadly and devastating. Crude-by-rail accidents are on the rise, but the rate of accidents isn’t necessarily increasing. Railroad companies are now required to tell local authorities when they’ll be moving Bakken oil through their communities, but are fighting this requirement.

Audio

Crude Oil Train Secrecy

By |

Hundreds of thousands of tank cars full of crude oil snake across the nation each year, and the number is only increasing — in the last five years, it’s jumped 14-fold. Along with that, there’s been an increased number of accidents, derailments and spills. Public safety advocates are clamoring for more information about where the trains are going and how much crude they’re carrying, but it’s been almost impossible to come by. Regulators don’t collect it and the railroads have refused to disclose it. Why the secrecy?

Bakken

30,000 Gallons Of Crude-By-Rail Every 77 Seconds

By |

Last week, Inside Energy reported that about 408,000 carloads and 39 million tons of crude oil originated on United States railroads in 2013. It’s a lot of oil, and it’s raising a lot of questions about safety. There are a lot of things we still don’t know about crude-by-rail, and Inside Energy is drilling into the details. How many railroad cars is that? An average of 1,119 carloads a day.