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ack in the day – the “day” being roughly less than a decade
ago – trains rumbling out of North Dakota were likely to be hauling
wheat, alfalfa, or canola, all staple crops eventually destined for North
American breakfast tables or export to Asia or Europe.
But then came the fast and furious development of the Bakken shale, with production volumes
swiftly overwhelming the area’s pipeline capacity. In order to increase takeaway, energy producers
increasingly pressed train cars into service. Suddenly, railroads, long considered the most dependable
shipping alternative for Plains States farmers, began transporting a totally different harvest: millions
of barrels of crude.
In 2013 alone, freight railroads delivered 435,560 carloads of Bakken crude oil – an amount
roughly equivalent to 300 million barrels – to American refineries, up from just 9,500 carloads five
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I N N O V AT I O N S • V O L . V I I I , N O. 1 • 2 0 1 6
C O V E R S T O R Y
Crude Being Moved to Market from the Bakken and Canadian Oil
Rail Operators Share Responsibility for Improving Industry Safety.