BNSF Blocking Oil Tank Cars To Ease Rail Traffic Jam -- Bloomberg -- November 12, 2014

Bloomberg is reporting:

BNSF Railway Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is blocking some shippers from adding tank cars to its system in a bid to prevent a worsening of the gridlock that sparked regulators’ ire.

BNSF, which has come under scrutiny this year from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board over late grain deliveries, has told some oil shippers its network can’t accommodate more tank cars, said Mike Trevino, a company spokesman. In June, BNSF and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. were ordered by the board to report plans for resolving the service disruptions.

While BNSF has said it’s spending $5 billion this year to add workers, rail cars and expand track, Berkshire acknowledged in a filing last week that the railroad’s service is still “well below” its standards. Compounding the problem is the prospect of a record soybean and corn crop in the U.S., which will put additional pressure on railroads.

The tea leaves suggest Bakken production will drop below 1 million bopd by the end of the year (remember, we won't know the December, 2014, production until mid-February, 2015). The numbers coming out in a few days will be for the month of September, 2014.