User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/crude oil transportation (North America)

Crude oil transportation (North America)

Crude oil is transported by pipeline, tanker and rail car.

In their 2014 report, the Paris-based International Energy Agency, argue that the renaissance in oil production, particularly the crude oil from the Bakken Shale has out-paced transportation infrastructure and safety regulations.

""The boom in oil production has also given rise to new environmental and safety concerns. One example is the lack of pipeline infrastructure or where existing pipelines lack sufficient available capacity, which in some regions has forced unprecedented amounts of oil to be transported by rail. The exponential growth in the amount of crude oil having to be moved by rail has given rise to safety and environmental unease and a number of serious accidents have occurred across North America, some of which involved oil being moved from the Bakken Shale (which tends to be more volatile and flammable than crude produced elsewhere). United States rail infrastructure was not built to manage large volumes of crude oil and has a limited amount of specially designed rail trucks. If large movements of oil by rail are to continue, major investments in infrastructure need to be made alongside significant strengthening of safety regulations such as those proposed by the Department of Transport in July 2014.""

- International Energy Agency

Pipelines
According to Natural Resources Canada, there are an estimated 825,000 km of "transmission, gathering and distribution lines in Canada" — including 100,000 km of "large-diameter transmission lines". Most Canadian provinces have a significant pipeline infrastructure. Inline inspection tools, monitoring devices, fluid dynamics, maintaining pressure, MindFuel Enbridge

"Alberta alone has 400,000 km of provincially regulated pipelines. (CBC. 2012-07-20. “Alberta pledges pipeline safety review: 3-pronged review to be carried out by independent party, energy minister says.”) see map image here mapping Alberta’s pipelines. This Financial Post map is interactive.

Corporate responsibility
During the 2011 conference on managing pipeline integrity held in Banff, Alberta, in his Opening Address entitled "A Perspective on the Future", George Tenley, Past President of Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI). "The evolution of safety regulation in North America has moved to a new focus; namely, the total corporate responsibility for every facet of the operation, including the integrity management plan and the actions taken under it. This strong focus on the "management" side of "integrity management" has occurred over a relatively short timeframe, and has been made operational in the wake of serious industry sins of omission at the highest levels of corporate leadership.”

Aging infrastructure
Pipelines are aging. Newer pipelines can have monitoring devices built in but these new smart technologies are difficult to adapt to pipelines built 50 years ago. In its 2010 field surveillance report, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), an independent agency of the Government of Alberta, recorded “687 pipeline failures across the province” (ERCB. 2011-11. ST57-2011 “Field Surveillance and Operations Branch Provincial Summary 2010” p. 16 http://www.ercb.ca/docs/products/STs/ST57-2011.pdf).” (626 were leaks/hits, 18 were ruptures, and 43 were hits with no release (ERCB 2010)." There is an intense race to add new lines, reverse flows and repair old pipelines as oil sands’ projects increase production. There are three major pipeline projects proposed in British Columbia: Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline, the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline, and the Pacific Trails Pipeline by Apache, Encana and EOG Resources. There is currently an over production of light and heavy Canadian crude varieties and a pipeline bottleneck in the American Midwest. Refineries are closed for maintenance or expediency and Canadian crude is steeply discounted against WTI (Calgary Herald 2012-04). There is also a heightened competition between Alberta’s oil sands and North Dakota’s Bakken formation “tight” oil for pipeline priorities. Oil refineries are costly to build and/or refurbish and the market is considered to be “mature.” International agreements appear to limit the ability of nation-states to make logical, reasonable decisions."

“In order to transport bitumen to refineries equipped to process it, bitumen must be blended with a diluent, traditionally condensate, to meet pipeline specifications for density and viscosity (NEB).” Dilbit: Growth in non-upgraded bitumen supply will increase the demand for diluent required to facilitate pipeline transportation to market. The Board’s outlook for traditional diluent (i.e., condensate) projects little growth in supply through to 2015, while demand under current operational conditions would be expected to rise by approximately 50 000 m3 /d (315 mb/d). Additional supply could be made available by directing condensate used for other purposes to diluent usage, but the majority of the gap must be filled through the use of substitutes. Several opportunities exist for substitutes including refinery naphtha and conventional light oil; however, the most suitable solution, due to its availability, is synthetic crude oil (SCO) ( (NEB 2004:12)."

Pipelines: Internal Corrosion
"A chief concern about the transport of Canadian crude through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline is a claim that dilbit poses more release risks than other types of crude. In particular, the committee will examine whether there is evidence that dilbit has corrosive or erosive characteristics that elevate its potential for release from transmission pipelines when compared with other crude oils. Should the committee conclude there is no evidence of an increased potential for release, it will report this finding to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) by spring 2013 (Institute for Corrosion Ohio University)."

"Pipeline integrity is an increasing challenge to the energy industry as the infrastructure is aging, and new field developments are introduced in both deep and remote areas of the world (source)."

"Although the industry claims that diluted bitumen (dilbit) is no more corrosive than conventional crude, older pipelines are at higher risk because water that separates from dilbit tends to collect and start corroding (Linda Daugherty, US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)’s deputy associate administrator for policy and programs)."

"As a starting point, the committee might want to reference similar types of crudes,” suggested Linda Daugherty, US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)’s deputy associate administrator for policy and programs. “Age also is a definite factor. Many pipelines were installed 40 years ago and have sharp turns where water which has separated from dilbit would tend to collect and start corrosion (Snow, Nick. 2012-07-24. “Diluted bitumen, heavy crudes are similar, NAS panel told.” Oil and Gas Journal. OGJ Washington Editor.)."

"Internal corrosion is a leading cause of pipeline failure — and one of the most difficult to detect.” Monitoring internal corrosion of pipelines is both “challenging and expensive” costing “several billion dollars annually in the U.S. alone.” Internal corrosion of pipelines can occur when moisture mixes with impurities (salts, like chlorine, and sulphur compounds). (source Bill Shaw, engineering professor at the University of Calgary and director of the Pipeline Engineering Centre, which studies corrosion and monitoring).

"Problems mainly arise when water that has not been removed from a crude before it goes into a pipeline begins to separate and collects at points along the bottom of the pipe’s interior, he explained. Dissolved gases—primarily carbon dioxide—and oil extracts such as organic acids also can influence corrosion rates, Moghissi said. Running a pig through the pipeline probably is the most effective corrosion inhibiter, although chemicals also can help, he told the panel."

Rail car
Since 2012 federal agencies in the United States "are documenting a dramatic rise in the number of rail mishaps involving oil tankers... as North American producers scramble to find ways to transport surging oil output to markets." The Washington Post argued that in 2014 all previous records for rail accidents involving shipments of petroleum products were shattered. Reuters claims that "A boom in oil shipments by rail and a spate of derailments across North America have put heightened focus on rail safety."

""Part of the problem, energy experts say, is that transportation has not yet caught up with the sheer volume of oil being pumped by U.S. and Canadian companies in the past three years. In 2012, trains carried 40 times more oil than they did in 2008, and the volume doubled again in the following year, to nearly 800,000 tanker-car loads, according to figures posted by the Association of American Railroads.""

- Joby Warrick Washington Post

Charles Esser, an analyst with the International Energy Association argued that "While overall only about 10 percent of U.S. crude moves by tanker car, nearly 70 percent of the production from North Dakota’s surging Bakken fields reaches refineries by rail." In the International Energy Agency blog it was noted that "The North American surge in oil production has taxed infrastructure."

""In just the United States, rail carried nearly twice as many car loads of crude oil from production sites last year than in 2012, and more than 40 times as many as in 2008. The 400,000 car loads last year transported 770 000 barrels per day on average, according to the Association of American Railroads...Existing pipelines in the region are running at capacity, and so up to 70% of North Dakota oil, for example, now reaches refineries by train.""

- IEA blog 2 May 2014

According to the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration "the 4.35 million litres of crude spilled in 2013 by US railroads exceeded the total since the government agency began keeping count."

2011

 * 27 March 2011 – Canada – About 20 cars of a 116-car train derail Sunday afternoon near Port Hope en route to Toronto. Families in twenty houses flee and a major passenger rail corridor is shut down. One empty derailed car catches fire and burns for about an hour.
 * 28 March 2011 – United States – A CSX train travelling through Newton Falls, Ohio with an estimated 100-cars of mixed freight (including hoppers and tank wagons), suffers a 12-car derailment at approximately 07.00 (local time) Eastern Daylight Time. Three rail cars fall off a bridge and onto Center Street. Several of the tank cars are carrying chlorine; none are involved in the derailment. Initial reports indicate that at least one car may have leaked ammonia, but officials do not believe that any hazardous materials have escaped into the environment.  Residents within 150 metres of the incident are evacuated, and most roads leading into town are closed by law enforcement officers.  Local HAZMAT officials arrive to assess the scene, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation opens an inquiry into the incident 'as a matter of standard procedure'.

2012

 * 6 January 2012 – United States – Three CSX freight trains collide in a remote section of Porter County, Indiana resulting in a fire and possible HAZMAT situation. Two injuries are reported.
 * 17 January 2012 – United States – A BNSF freight train collides with a tractor trailer in northeast Montana, causing ten rail cars to derail, including four locomotives and blocking the traffic on the rail line.
 * 1 February 2012 – United States – The Amtrak Wolverine train from Pontiac, Michigan to Chicago, carrying 71 passengers and 5 crew, strikes a stalled tractor trailer (carrying equipment for oil production) on tracks in Leoni Township, Michigan. The lead engine and at least two cars derail. There are no fatalities, and six people suffer non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot and the Blackman-Leoni Public Safety Department.
 * 24 June 2012 – United States – Three crew members were killed when two Union Pacific trains slammed into each other just east of Goodwell, about 480 kilometres northwest of Oklahoma City. The crash triggered a diesel-fueled fireball that appeared to weld the locomotives together.
 * 11 July 2012 – United States – A Norfolk Southern train with 2 locomotives and 98 cars derails in Columbus, Ohio, near the Ohio State Fairgrounds at 02.05 CDT.  The resulting explosion, caused in part due to the burning of 76000 L of ethanol, causes a mile-wide evacuation.  At the time of the explosion, two nearby individuals are injured; they drive themselves to hospital.
 * 21 July 2012 – United States – A Kansas City Southern freight train collides with a BNSF coal train and derails in Barton County, MO, injuring two railway workers.
 * 29 October 2012 – United States – Thirteen cars of a 57-car Paducah & Louisville (P&L) freight train derail near West Point, Kentucky. A tank car loaded with butadiene leaked and later caught fire while workers were repairing the track. No deaths, 5 injured. On 31 October, the train derailment exploded at 13:30 causing evacuations to be ordered in a 2 kilometre radius and an 8 kilometre radius to stay indoors. 3 were seriously burned in the explosion.

2013

 * 26 April 2013 – United States – At a rural Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad crossing, in Butler County, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), an Allegheny Valley Railroad freight train carrying asphalt (with 2 locomotives, 29 cars; traveling at the 25 mph limit) strikes an Alliance for Nonprofit Resources Inc. Butler Area Rural Transit Authority bus carrying impaired seniors and younger adults at the Maple Street intersection. It's unclear whether the bus stopped on or before the tracks; the train's brakes are believed to have been applied and the horn to have sounded. Two people are flown by helicopter to area trauma centres–one was in critical condition, and a 91-year-old woman dies later at Allegheny General Hospital. Ten others, including the bus driver, are also hospitalised.
 * 25 May 2013 – United States – Seven people are injured when two freight trains collide early in the morning at a rail intersection in southeast Missouri, causing a highway overpass to collapse (this occurred shortly after a bridge collapse in Washington state and the above-mentioned Fairfield, Connecticut commuter train collision). The accident occurs when a Union Pacific train T-bones a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train outside of Scott City, Missouri about 190 km south of St. Louis, Missouri. One of the trains derails, sending rail cars smashing into an overpass support pillar. Five of the injured are in automobiles, and two are on the train. All but one of the injured are treated and released from the hospital. 37.20964°N, -89.74573°W
 * 28 May 2013 – United States – A freight train derails outside Rosedale, Maryland, just outside Baltimore after colliding with a garbage truck. Fifteen cars from the CSX train Q409 derail and two catch fire. An explosion damages nearby buildings. Only the truck driver is injured. Those within a 20-block radius of the crash site are asked to evacuate. Hazardous materials crews are sent to the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board sends a team to investigate the accident.
 * 20 June 2013 – Canada – A rail bridge in Calgary, Alberta, weakened by recent flooding, collapses with 4 empty tank cars hanging just above the still swollen Bow River. No one is injured, and the cars are removed safely.
 * 6 July 2013 – Canada – Lac-Mégantic derailment – A freight train containing 72 tank cars of crude oil runs away while unattended and derails in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. Several cars explode, resulting in 42 confirmed dead and 5 missing and presumed dead; over 30 buildings in the town's centre, roughly half of the downtown area, are destroyed.
 * 5 August 2013 – United States – More than 20 cars of Union Pacific train derail in Louisiana near Lawtell.
 * 19 September 2013 – United States – A CSX train derails in Southampton County, Virginia injuring two engineers and starting a fire.
 * 30 September 2013 – United States – An out-of-service Chicago Transit Authority train crashes head-on into a stopped train in Forest Park, Illinois, injuring 33 people.
 * 19 October 2013 – Canada – A train with 13 cars carrying crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas derails west of Edmonton, Alberta. Local residents are evacuated in Gainford, Alberta located some 85 km (53 miles) from the capital. A fire results and no one was injured.
 * 8 November 2013 – United States – A 90-car freight train carrying crude oil from the Bakken shale patch in North Dakota (possibly similar to the type carried in the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic derailment in Quebec, Canada), from Amory, Mississippi to a refinery in Walnut Hill, Florida, derails and explodes in the morning in Pickens County, Alabama (west AL); the flames, which shot upward 300 feet high, were left to burn themselves out, which may take up to 24 hours. There were no fatalities or injuries.
 * 30 December 2013 – United States – Casselton train derailment – Several grain cars from a westbound train derail and strike an eastbound train carrying crude oil on an adjoining track near Casselton, North Dakota. Several crude oil cars explode, resulting in large clouds of black smoke which forced an evacuation of the area. No casualties were reported.

2014

 * 7 January 2014 – Canada – A CN train carrying crude oil and propane derails near Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. The resulting fire forces an evacuation of the area within a two-kilometre radius. No injuries are reported.
 * 20 January 2014 – United States – A CSX train carrying crude oil derails in Philladelphia, Pennsylvania. Seven cars of a 101-car train derailed on a bridge over the Schuylkill Expressway, causing the road to be shut down for brief periods of time as emergency crews drained the tankers. No injuries were reported.
 * 27 January 2014 – Canada – A CN train hauling liquefied petroleum gas, clay, and automobiles derails near the Saint-Basile community of Edmunston, New Brunswick. Five cars left the tracks, three carrying automobiles, and one each of LPG and clay. No injuries were reported.
 * 31 January 2014 – United States – A CN train carrying crude oil, methane and liquid fertilizer derails near New Augusta, Mississippi. 18 to 24 cars of the 85-car train derailed and began leaking. The derailment occurred in a rural area, but resulted in 12 families being evacuated and four lanes of U.S. 98 closed as emergency responders began to clean up the spill. No injuries were reported.
 * 10 May 2014 – United States – a train traveling in Colorado derails and spills 6500 gal of oil west of LaSalle, Colorado.
 * 17 August 2014 – United States – two Union Pacific locomotives hit head on, in Hoxie, Arkansas, killing two crewmen and injuring two others. Several cars derail, resulting in a fire that causes the evacuation of 500 residents.
 * 7 October 2014 – Canada – A CN train hauling dangerous goods derails near Clair, Saskatchewan. Twenty six of the 100 rail cars derail, two of which leaki petroleum distillate and catch fire. The approximately 50 residences of Clair and surrounding farms are evacuated and Highway 5 is shut down. n-crashes-truck-white-co/18047209/ | title=24 hurt as Amtrak train, semi collide | work=The Indianapolis Star | date=28 October 2014 | accessdate=11 November 2014}}

2015

 * 14 February 2015 – Canada – Seven rail cars on fire in northern Ontario after a Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil derails.
 * 16 February – United States – A CSX freight train derails in West Virginia. At least 7 tank cars catch fire, with over 60 people evacuated from their homes nearby.