Will more pipelines stop oil trains and the growing risk of derailments? - water cooler ac

This month, the Transportation Safety Board confirmed that more than 1 million liters of oil spilled when an east-bound oil train tilted to a ranch near St.
Lazar, middle of ManitobaFebruary.
It is often argued in Alberta that if Canadians do not want oil trains to flow into their streams and reservoirs, they should probably start approving some pipelines.
"We can deliver our energy products safely or by rail," wrote Alberta Prime Minister Rachel nortelly . ".
Sure enough, despite the construction of stone walls on the new export pipeline, her government carried oil.
Here's a quick start on whether the pipeline can really get the oil train off track.
December 2018-the last month of data --.
There are more than 23 Olympic swimming pools worth of oil every day, excluding trains transporting oil to Canada.
Now the oil on the Canadian railway is more than twice that of Lac-time.
Mexico railway disaster.
The reason is simple: Alberta's oil production exceeds that of the province moved out of the pipeline. In mid-
2018, production in Alberta is approximately 4.
30 million barrels of oil per day.
At the same time, the existing pipeline in Alberta.
As a result, 350,000 barrels of oil are piled up in storage tanks every day.
Like other things that no one buys, at the same time, the excess oil price is surprisingly lower than that of the United States. S. (
Phenomenon called).
If there is a port or empty pipeline nearby, the efficiency of transporting oil by train is too low and economically meaningless.
But when a sea of cheap oil in northern Canada has no way to suck it out, all of a sudden it makes sense to raise the extra cost of renting trains in order to flip cheap oil in the USS. rates.
Look at the carpet around the office water dispenser and you may see water stains.
If your office is hydrated by a fountain attached to a fixed pipe, this is not the case: there is no need to awkwardly put a 19 kg kettle in, and the chance of overflow is reduced.
For mobile oil, the same basic math applies: a fixed network of pipes will leak less oil than a chain of wheels passing through the Rocky Mountains.
A 2017 report from the Manhattan Institute cited the United StatesS.
Accident data to determine that oil trains are more prone to accidents than pipelines, even if both tasks are to carry the same amount of oil.
A similar report from the right
The sand-leaning society determines Canadian data, oil. by-
Error in railway ratio used to carry pipes of the same volume.
Just as Canadian railways contain more oil than ever before, the rate of crashes and derailing is rising.
Last year, there were 1,170 major accidents on the Canadian Railway. per-
An increase of ten per cent over the average of the previous five years.
In the previous year, it was up from 900 in the previous year.
These accident rates are not significantly lower than average, but Canada is also packing trains with fuel vehicles while trains cannot remain upright.
In Western Canada alone, a series of serious incidents occurred in sensitive wilderness areas in the first two months alone.
On February, as many as 60 cars plummeted on a mountain near B. Golden. C.
Last week, a freight train shipped some of the goods to Banff National Park.
In early January, 15 cars derailed at Yoho National Park.
Fortunately, in all three cases, the derailment does not involve hazardous substances.
The pipe is not perfect;
Between 2016 and 2017, 17,500 km Canadian oil pipeline networks released products.
But keep in mind that the pipe is moving.
Compared with 95 million barrels transported by rail, 350,000 barrels per day.
"At 1996-
2007, railway crude oil per ton continues to decrease
A mile more than a truck or pipe. 2014. The U. S.
The department also reached a similar conclusion in it.
"It is reported that the railway transport emissions per ton of crude oil more
Miles more than a pipe or ocean transport, but overall, the pipeline transport releases the most barrels per tonIt wrote: "miles.
These conclusions, of course, are based on data that excludes massive growth in the US economy. S.
Oil trains brought about by the shale oil boom. While oil-by-
Rail transport used to be limited to several tankers for mixed transport
Car trains in Canada and the United States now run miles-
It's a long train of oil.
In 2013 alone, there were more oil spills in the United States. S. railroads .
Nevertheless, even a large oil train is loaded with a fraction of the oil that is transported by other means.
"Compared with the 260,000 barrels discharged when Exxon Valdez 1989 is grounded, even the total amount of major derailment leaks can be very small . . . . . . Or the largest 40,000 barrels in the United States. S.
Pipeline oil leakage (we)
The Congressional Research Institute wrote in 2014: "can document.
However, one thing that is good for shop managers is that they have never killed anyone, at least in Canada.
Oil trains not only face greater risks in cities
Disaster like Lac
But the crash in Canada also kills more than 100 people a year.
Earlier this year, the Alberta government was interested in cutting oil production.
The idea is to slow down the build-up of oil in oil storage tanks and lower prices relative to Americans.
The plan was successful and one of the immediate results was that Imperial Oil, one of the main producers of the oil sands, had to do so.
"It is not economical to transport crude oil by rail at this time," CEO Rich Kruger said . ".
Building more pipes has similar effects on reducing oil production.
If all the oil in Alberta can be delivered through the pipeline, its price will never have a chance to drop due to the "stranding" in Alberta.
If the price is not low compared to the USS.
It is no longer profitable to use trains to bring them to the market.
This is the conclusion of.
By analyzing the Dakota passage, the researchers determined that the only real impact if protesters successfully shut down would be to trigger the boom in oil trains.
"The cancellation of regulations on pipeline investment will primarily lead to an increase in rail traffic, rather than a decrease in total oil production and transportation," the report said . ".
However, if oil prices suddenly soar, all bets are gone.
If Canada wakes up tomorrow to find $200 a barrel of oil, no more Trans-Mountain expansion will leave the running oil train unaffordable.
Even if Alberta has all the oil infrastructure it craves, oil trains will continue to exist as long as the oil economy is still there.
In general, the completion of the Trans-Mountain expansion project may cut the number of oil trains going to the Rocky Mountains.
Similarly, the Energy East could weaken most of the oil trains heading to the Atlantic Ocean.
However, rail tankers still have the advantage of moving faster to more places.
Jennifer Winter, energy economist at the University of Calgary, said: "The North American pipeline network is quite large and comprehensive, but it does not necessarily serve all locations . " Told the National Post on a note.
"Even if the pipeline elves provide Alberta with sufficient pipeline export capacity, there may still be bottlenecks elsewhere (in the US)
This requires railway use.
Twitter: |