BNSF has created a special Unit Energy Desk to plan trains to and from the oil patch, with unit trains up to 118 oil tankers.
BNSF has increased its capacity to haul up to 1 million bopd out of North Dakota and Montana. North Dakota now ships in excess of 660,000 bopd, the most recent reporting period in June. Pipeline capacity is 450,000 bopd. Another 200,000 bopd of pipeline capacity will come on line by the middle of next year, but the gap between pipeline capacity and production will continue to widen before it narrows, according to the linked story.
BNSF currently has eight oil terminals with two more coming on line this year. [There are currently 16 CBR facilities in North Dakota; I don't know if "two more" is part of the sixteen or are we looking at 18 CBR facilities?]
BNSF says it has invested almost $200 million, and has hired more than 560 employees to fill existing and new positions in North Dakota and Montana.
"BNSF has been hauling Bakken crude out of the Williston Basin area for over five years. In that time, we have seen the volume increase nearly 7,000 percent, from 1.3 million barrels in 2008 to 88.9 million in 2012," said Dave Garin, BNSF group vice president, Industrial Products.Just how big is the Bakken? At least one company thinks it could be a trillion-barrel reservoir with 45 billion bbls of recoverable oil.
ReplyDeleteAs I had posted earlier, as an Amtrak passenger through the Bakken couldn't believe the construction activity on the BNSF rails. Guess the $200 million in construction seems about right! ;)
And there's a new BNSF yard in Minot that you probably did not see. It's quite incredible how much activity is going on. Thank you for taking time to comment; I hope you had a good trip.
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