Image: Northern Platforms/SafeRack The shutdown of one of Canada’s largest crude pipelines has shippers turning to rail to move their oil. Demand to transport crude by rail has picked up over the past week as TC Energy Corp. works to return its Keystone crude pipeline to service following a leak, according to people familiar with the matter. The line shut last week after it ruptured in Walsh County, North Dakota, and spilled more than 9,000 barrels. Shipping crude by rail has become more economical as the shutdown traps barrels in Alberta, depressing prices there, while boosting values in the Midwest and along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where refiners have to seek alternatives. The system carries crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, from where it extends toward the biggest U.S. supply hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, and to Patoka, Illinois. “We are expecting crude-by-rail volumes into the south to rise as the Keystone outage has caused Alberta oil prices to decline, and with the province set to grant waivers to production that is shipped by rail from Canada,” said Stephen Wolfe, an oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. Keystone pipe outage has pushed prices for Bakken oil higher Refiners […]
