WSJ - Norwegian company Statoil has announced the leasing of 1,000 rail tank cars to move crude oil from oil field to refinery or shipping port in the United States and Canada because of lack of pipeline capacity. The usual petroleum tank car(sometimes called "tankar") has a capacity of about 10,000 gallons or about 238 barrels of crude oil (at 42 gallons per barrel). Larger capacity tank cars exist but their use is limited by theweight most rail trackage can carry. Statoil estimates an average tank car will require up to 15 days for a round trip to destinations in Canada, Gulf of Mexico or the U.S. East Coast.
Coal trains are standard for moving coal from mine to production use but pipelines have long taken over the majority of crude oil shipping in the United States. Tank cars are still used, however. The increase in crude production in the Bakken oil region of North Dakota, for instance, has increased rail shipment of crude to more than 325,000 barrels daily in June, 2012, double the 2011 amount.
Tank cars are usually leased and may remain idle for weeks or months at a time, depending upon crude production and storage capabilities. New oil fields present special shipping problems as it takes time to apply for and put in place new pipelines with their gathering systems, storage and shipping facilities. The fast-moving oil business is a tough and expensive one.
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