Friday, July 18, 2014

Older oil rail cars would be phased out under industry proposal; EIA's map to Petroleum



Train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derails in Everett

By KOMO staff Published: Jul 17, 2014 at 8:19 PM PDT


Older oil rail cars would be phased out under industry proposal
Bloomberg News, July 17, 2014

WASHINGTON — The oil industry and the railroads that haul its crude have offered U.S. regulators a joint plan to phase out a type of older tank car tied to a spate of fiery accidents, according to two people familiar with the proposal.

The plan also calls for slightly thicker walls for new cars to make them less vulnerable to puncture, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private communications. The parties agreed to scrap a fleet of thousands of DOT-111s within three years if manufacturers agree they can replace or retrofit the tank cars in that period......

....In an interview before reaching the agreement, Edward Hamberger, chief executive officer of the AAR [Association of American Railroads], said there was a need to balance risk with the need to move the oil.



"Where do you draw that line? We have that challenge every day," Hamberger said. "What is the need for commerce? What is the need for having a tank that actually has some capacity? You could make them a foot thick and then have them carry three gallons each. There will always be some risk."
   read entire article here

2Q railcar orders, deliveries flex muscle 

Railway Age   July 18, 2014

The Railway Supply Institute on Friday, July 18, 2014, released its railcar industry order, delivery, and backlog statistics for the second quarter, with the data showing strong growth, which one analyst attributes largely to ongoing crude-by-rail (CBR) developments.

Orders totaling 33,912 cars were the highest since the first quarter of 2011. Deliveries of 16,056 were the highest since the third quarter of 2008. The second-quarter backlog totalted 99,78 cars.

Industry orders for tank cars totaled 10,628 in the quarter, more than double the first quarter's total of 4,769 tank cars, reflecting a burst in demand for new tank cars able to meet the demand, the regulations, and concerns related to CBR shipments...... continued here

Only thing missing from detailed U.S. energy map? Crude by rail routes

McClatchy Washington Bureau  July 17, 2014 

As some railroads have continued to push for states to keep details about their crude oil shipments confidential, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has been developing a map that shows pipelines, refineries and rail and ship terminals used in crude oil transport.

Though no federal law protects the information railroads don’t want the states to disclose, some have signed confidentiality agreements and denied open records requests from media organizations and environmental groups.

The interactive, layered map shows just about every energy-related asset in the country.
Jonathan Cogan, a spokesman for the agency, said that no one had objected to the publicly available map’s level of detail.  continued here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/17/233664/only-thing-missing-from-detailed.html?sp=/99/104/#storylink=cpy

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