November 12, 2018 – Reuters
North Dakota oil prices set to weaken further amid pipe, rail constraints
By Devika Krishna Kumar, Collin Eaton
NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Bakken crude prices are set to weaken from already low levels in coming months, with the frigid winter in North Dakota likely to disrupt rail loadings and worsen bottlenecks as production soars, traders and executives said.
U.S. oil producers ramped up production in the nation’s third-largest oilpatch, boosting crude output to a record 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, overwhelming pipelines and rail cars...
Read the full article here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crude-bakken/north-dakota-oil-prices-set-to-weaken-further-amid-pipe-rail-constraints-idUSKCN1NH0FY
…Dakota Access pipeline was full in October, according to Genscape’s latest data, while one of the other major lines had an 85 percent utilization rate.
North Dakota’s crude production typically is not affected enough to lift prices the winter, but rail operations face severe challenges in the frigid weather, said John Zanner, crude analyst at RBN Energy.
“Winter weather makes crude-by-rail operations much more difficult. You have stuff freeze up, especially in North Dakota,” Zanner said.
