Salient to Investors:
North American energy companies are investing more in railroad terminals than the railroads themselves because swelling output has overwhelmed pipelines. Domestic crude at least 20 percent cheaper than imports.
Rail is more expensive than pipelines but reaches into metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and Philadelphia, where new pipes are hard to lay.
1.2-mile trains of 120 tank cars carry as much as 762 barrels each.
US oil production is projected to increase 24 percent by 2014, while Canadian oil output will rise 57 percent by 2020.
The Manhattan Institute estimates rail is 34 times more likely to spill hazardous materials, including oil, than a pipeline transporting the same volume an identical distance.
Ethan Bellamy at Robert W. Baird said it’s unlikely someone will build a big new pipeline from North Dakota to LA or San Francisco,
Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-14/oil-industry-beats-buffett-in-railroad-investments-surge-energy.html.