Canada cracking down on CBR shippers

Canada’s government has ordered Transport Canada to crack down hard on crude oil shippers who they say continue to evade a directive that they test the contents of tank cars before classifying them as hazardous materials for crude by rail (CBR) transportation.
Commentary

U.S. energy independence—with the railroad industry’s help

Largely based upon increasing output from shale formations, the United States will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2015, and be close to energy independence in the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based adviser to 28 energy-consuming nations. And based upon huge increases in CBR (crude by rail) traffic in the past two years—safety and regulatory issues notwithstanding—the railroads will be playing an increasingly important role.

Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway CBR train derails, explodes

A 90-car Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway CBR (crude by rail) train derailed and exploded in a rural area of western Alabama early on Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, leaving 26 cars burning. Thirty cars derailed or were damaged. The main line was expected to be out of service for about a week.

Keystone Gulf Coast pipeline nears service

Unbeknownst to many, the southern segment of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, called the “Keystone Gulf Coast,” should soon be in operation, according to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek filed by Associate Editor Matthew Phillips. The new pipeline’s impact on crude-by-rail is yet to be determined.

Crude by rail: The outlook is good

“Narrowing oil price differentials are impacting carloadings in the near term, but should not deter shippers from making long-term investments in crude-by-rail, which has many inherent logistical benefits that can override price in determining a transportation mode in certain scenarios,” says Cowen and Co. Managing Director and Railway Age Contributing Editor Jason H. Seidl. “Price differentials may slow CBR but won’t stop it.”

FRA issues Emergency Order, Safety Advisory in Lac-Mégantic’s wake

The Federal Railroad Administration issued an Emergency Order (EO 28, Notice No. 1, 49 CFR 232.103[n]) and Safety Advisory (2013-06) Friday evening, Aug. 2, 2013, “to help prevent trains operating on main line tracks or sidings from moving unintentionally,” specifically, those hauling certain types of hazardous materials, such as crude oil and ethanol.

A turning point for crude by rail?

After my most recent blog on the CBR (crude by rail) disaster in Canada, I fielded a lot of questions that, while they were often worded differently, all ended up asking whether or not I thought the “glory” days of CBR could be ending. Clearly, no one on the face of the earth can really know the answer to this particular question. But since my readers gave me points for accurately predicting that there eventually would be an accident of some kind, I feel prescient enough to tackle the question of CBR’s future.