Transport Differential Between Rail and Pipeline -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This was sent to me as a "cut and paste" from a message board:

Focused on the Bakken. EEP remains squarely focused on the Bakken, especially due to its sizeable and attractive presence in the area. EEP has begun expanding its Bakken program (North Dakota system) to add another 120 kbbl/d in capacity by 2013. With a significant amount of oil moving via rail at approximately double the cost of pipe transport ($8-$10/bbl), management sees opportunity here.

This is at odds from earlier stories that suggested price to ship oil by rail was coming down significantly and that the differential was closer to a couple of dollars. Of course, to some extent, crude-by-rail is subject to the price of diesel used by the locomotives.

Crude-by-rail provides most flexible way of transporting Bakken oil, if not necessarily the most efficient.