Analyzing the Risk of Transporting Crude Oil by Rail PDF Download
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Author: Charles F. Mason
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
In this paper, I combine data on incidents associated with rail transportation of crude oil and detailed data on rail shipments to appraise the relation between increased use of rail to transport crude oil and the risk of safety incidents associated with those shipments. I find a positive link between the accumulation of minor incidents and the frequency of serious incidents, and a positive relation between increased rail shipments of crude oil and the occurrence of minor incidents. I also find that increased shipments are associated with a rightward shift in the distribution of economic damages associated with these shipments; the implied marginal impact of an additional 1,000 rail cars carrying oil between two states in a given month is $1,836. In addition, I find larger average effects associated with states that represent the greatest source of tight oil production.
Author: Charles F. Mason
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
In this paper, I combine data on incidents associated with rail transportation of crude oil and detailed data on rail shipments to appraise the relation between increased use of rail to transport crude oil and the risk of safety incidents associated with those shipments. I find a positive link between the accumulation of minor incidents and the frequency of serious incidents, and a positive relation between increased rail shipments of crude oil and the occurrence of minor incidents. I also find that increased shipments are associated with a rightward shift in the distribution of economic damages associated with these shipments; the implied marginal impact of an additional 1,000 rail cars carrying oil between two states in a given month is $1,836. In addition, I find larger average effects associated with states that represent the greatest source of tight oil production.
Author: Olufolajimi Oke
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Congressional Research Congressional Research Service
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781505450798
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28
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Book Description
North America is experiencing a boom in crude oil supply, primarily due to growing production in the Canadian oil sands and the recent expansion of shale oil production from the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana as well as the Eagle Ford and Permian Basins in Texas. Taken together, these new supplies are fundamentally changing the U.S. oil supply-demand balance. The United States now meets 66% of its crude oil demand from production in North America, displacing imports from overseas and positioning the United States to have excess oil and refined products supplies in some regions. The rapid expansion of North American oil production has led to significant challenges in transporting crudes efficiently and safely to domestic markets-principally refineries-using the nation's legacy pipeline infrastructure. In the face of continued uncertainty about the prospects for additional pipeline capacity, and as a quicker, more flexible alternative to new pipeline projects, North American crude oil producers are increasingly turning to rail as a means of transporting crude supplies to U.S. markets. Railroads are more willing to enter into shorter-term contracts with shippers than pipelines, offering more flexibility in a volatile oil market. According to rail industry officials, U.S. freight railroads delivered 435,560 carloads of crude oil in 2013 (roughly equivalent to 300 million barrels), compared to 9,500 carloads in 2008. In the first half of 2014, 258,541 carloads of crude oil were delivered. Crude imports by rail from Canada have increased more than 20-fold since 2011. The amount of oil transported by rail may also be influenced by a tight market for U.S.-built tankers. However, if recent oil price declines persist and the price falls below the level at which Bakken producers can cover their costs, some production could be shut in, potentially reducing the volume of oil carried by rail. While oil by rail has demonstrated benefits with respect to the efficient movement of oil from producing regions to market hubs, it has also raised significant concerns about transportation safety and potential impacts to the environment. The most recent data available indicate that railroads consistently spill less crude oil per ton-mile transported than other modes of land transportation. Nonetheless, safety and environmental concerns have been underscored by a series of major accidents across North America involving crude oil transportation by rail-including a catastrophic fire that caused numerous fatalities and destroyed much of Lac Mégantic, Quebec, in 2013. Following that event, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a safety alert warning that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil. Legislation introduced in Congress following the Lac Mégantic disaster would require railroads to have at least two crew members aboard all trains. In addition, policy makers are proposing regulatory changes involving tank car design, prevention of derailments, and selection of preferred routes for transporting oil by rail. Congress may evaluate these changes in the reauthorization of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-432).
Author: Musaad Alruwaili
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783346046161
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28
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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Engineering - Safety Engineering, grade: A, language: English, abstract: The overall objective of this report was to identify an existing safety problem in the company's oil transportation operations and provide recommendations on the strategy the company could implement to plug the identified weakness. Effective, efficient, and safe transportation of oil is not only one of the most important aspects of the company's long-term growth prospects, but it is also one of the integral aspects of the development of the environment and, by extension, the economy and the society. Despite the company's awareness of the need for effective, efficient, and safe strategy for oil transportation, it is heavily reliant on a mode of oil transportation (tanker trucks) that it is anything, but safe, efficient, and effective. Based on these drawbacks, this report recommends that the company switch from tanker truck transportation to rail transport. In contrast to tanker truck transportation, transportation of oil through rail is effective, efficient, and safe. Studies indicate that rail transport is a safer mode of transport because trains transporting oil have a small risk of colliding with other trains when transporting oil to their intended destination. The reduced risk of collision means that their impact of trains on the environment from oil spillage is low. In addition to safety, rail transport is a more effective and efficient mode of transporting oil because of the absence of obstacles on the rail truck that might severely interrupt the transportation of oil. However, the oil corporation must proceed with caution during the switch because it will need $15 billion to make the move successful.
Author: United States. Government Accountability Office
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781502517258
Category : Gas pipelines
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Technology advancements such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (pumping water, sand, and chemicals into wells to fracture underground rock formations and allow oil or gas to flow) have allowed companies to extract oil and gas from shale and other tight geological formations. As a result, oil and gas production has increased more than fivefold from 2007 through 2012. DOT oversees the safety of the U.S. transportation system. GAO was asked to review oil and gas transportation infrastructure issues. This report examines (1) overall challenges that increased oil and gas production may pose for transportation infrastructure, (2) specific pipeline safety risks and how DOT is addressing them, and (3) specific rail safety risks and how DOT is addressing them. GAO analyzed federal transportation infrastructure and safety data generally from 2008 to 2012 or 2013 (as available), reviewed documents, and interviewed agency, industry, and safety stakeholders, as well as state and industry officials in states with large-scale shale oil and gas development.
Author: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Marine pollution
Languages : en
Pages : 320
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Book Description
Examines the safety problems of oil tankers which could threaten the ecology and quality of the oceans and coastal areas.
Author: Rosario S. McLaughlin
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers
ISBN: 9781631178375
Category : Petroleum
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
North America is experiencing a boom in crude oil supply, primarily due to growing production in the Canadian oil sands and the recent expansion of shale oil production from the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana as well as the Eagle Ford and Permian Basins in Texas. Taken together, these new supplies are fundamentally changing the U.S. oil supply-demand balance. The United States now meets 66% of its crude oil demand from production in North America, displacing imports from overseas and positioning the United States to have excess oil and refined products supplies in some regions. This book provides a background of the United States rail transportation of crude oil, as well as discusses the issues it leaves for Congress.
Author: Dianne Gibbs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781634830713
Category : Petroleum
Languages : en
Pages : 148
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Book Description
Several fiery rail accidents in 2013-2015 in the U.S. and Canada carrying crude oil produced from the Bakken region of North Dakota have raised questions at many levels on the safety of transporting this, and other types of crude oil, by rail. Sandia National Laboratories was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the material properties of crude oils, and in particular the so-called "tight oils" like Bakken that comprise the majority of crude oil rail shipments in the U.S. at the current time. The book provides a literature survey of public sources of information on crude oil properties that have some bearing on the likelihood or severity of combustion events that may occur around spills associated with rail transport. The book also contains background information including a review of the notional "tight oil" field operating environment, as well a basic description of crude oils and potential combustion events in rail transport.
Author: Patrick Williams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781634630207
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Stephen Joel Carlson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
On July 6, 2013, an oil-laden unit train derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada, killing 47 people, shocking and saddening many, and leading to significantly increased public scrutiny of crude oil transported by rail. Simultaneously, there has been intense scrutiny of proposed pipelines from the oil/tar sands in Alberta, most notably the TransCanada Keystone XL. Not only is there concern about the potential environmental impacts of the pipelines themselves, such as a potential spill of diluted bitumen, but there is also concern about the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the energy-intensiveness of bitumen production and refining. Proponents argue that a denial of pipeline permits by governments in Canada and the United States would lead to more crude by rail, an outcome that pipeline supporters believe would not only be less cost-effective, less safe, and less environmentally-friendly, but would also ultimately lead to the same amount of greenhouse gas being emitted from the production and refining of oil sands bitumen. Railroads, with much of the required infrastructure already in place to transport crude, usually do not need to undergo the same environmental assessments as pipelines for modest capacity expansions. As a result, when pipelines are evaluated through political and regulatory processes in Canada and the US, much of the focus is on what railroads might do if a pipeline permit is not approved, rather than what they should do. This research emphasizes the latter. The CLIOS Process, an approach for studying complex sociotechnical systems, is used to study the relationships between the oil sands production and transportation systems, the institutional actors that govern them, and the critical contemporary issues of economic development, energy security, climate change, and safety. Specifically, strategic alternatives - pipelines and railroads - for adding transportation capacity from the oil sands are identified and their performance along dimensions of societal concern are compared and contrasted. Additionally, recognizing that railroad safety is of particular concern, CAST, an accident investigation tool built on the STAMP accident causation model, is used to study the safety control structure of the Canadian railway industry that existed prior to the Lac-Megantic accident. This research describes how environmental acceptability is implicit in advancing energy security and economic development. The research also raises questions about the acceptability of safety risks associated with rail transport of crude oil and recommends that this issue be further debated at railway management, regulatory, and political levels. Both railroad and pipeline modes are environmentally efficient and safe, and the emphasis of the conclusions is that further improving environmental performance and further improving safety should be focused on, whenever possible, not only by looking inwardly at one organization or transport mode in isolation, but also by seeking broader system-level changes.
