Express-Platte

Western Canadian crude oil production is rising fast. To keep pace, Enbridge is planning expansions to its pipelines into the Midwest and Great Plains. But PADD 2 refineries are maxed out on heavy crude, so virtually all those incremental barrels will need to keep flowing south to refineries and export terminals along the Gulf Coast. Can the pipelines from PADD 2 to PADD 3 handle the higher volumes? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the knock-on effects of rising Western Canadian production and Enbridge’s pipeline expansions. 

New crude pipeline capacity being added in the Rockies to ease congestion will compete directly with rail terminals built or planned in the region. Some of these rail terminals are purpose built to take barrels off the pipelines for delivery to West Coast refiners or perhaps to facilitate blending of heavier Canadian grades with lighter shale crudes. The competition between pipelines and rail in the region underlines a key accomplishment of the post-shale crude distribution system - the advent of greater choice for producers. Today we describe growing rail alternatives in the Rockies.