More crude oil to travel by train

Railroads filling gap since Obama blocked Keystone pipeline

Keystone was the great hope for opening U.S. markets further to Canadian crude. Now that it’s dead, railways will not only make a comeback but transport more oil than ever.

The Keystone XL pipeline was set to carry heavy Canadian crude south from Hardisty, Alberta’s oil hub, before being blocked by President Barack Obama last November, largely on environmental grounds.

In a sign of what’s coming, exports by train rose 23 percent in April, the biggest year-on-year jump since September 2014, according to Canada’s National Energy Board.

That’s just the beginning. Next year, with about a half dozen new projects and expansions in the oil sands, rail exports could double by the third quarter to a record, said Eric Peterson, research chief at Denver-based ARB Midstream LLC, an oil transport investor. That’s good news for USD Group LLC, Imperial Energy Corp. and Cenovus Energy Inc., all of which invested in new rail terminals or plan on expanding older ones this year....

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Ken Notes: In Wisconsin this is not good news. Our rail lines need significant upgrades and there is no political cover for this. We have to realize our environment is like a balloon, when we squeeze one end we weaken the other...