Fossil Energy Moves by Rail : XL Pipeline NOT Needed?

'Where there is will, there is a way' - despite the willfulness of Mr Obama and his political party, the progressives socialist liberal left democrats, to crush the fossil fuel industry in favor of 'green' energy, wind, solar and biofuels, Ethanol, America will move forward with fossil energy that represents 43% of all our energy production.

Why would Mr Obama and the progressive socialists want to deny the citizens our country the energy that they need to be prosperous? Do the socialists have another agenda in mind that is different they the one this country was founded on?

That the railroads are stepping up their involvement in the oil business and therefore nearly negating the importance of the XL pipeline is reassuring, in that the innovators among us said to the progressives socialist environmentalists democrats, 'go pound sand'.

What the railroads and the Canadian oil companies have done here is stuck a sharp stick into Obama's eye. Progress will not be denied even by those that want to destroy our way of life and replacing it with bread lines and poverty.

But the progressive democrats know this is a sure way to increase the voter base. The more people that the progressives can drive into poverty and dependency, the more they will have to rely on a hand out from the government to just survive and then they will vote like they are told or else.

Remember the slogan of the progressive socialist democrat party, 'by any means necessary'. Remember what Mr Obama said during a campaign speech about debating the opposition, "if they bring a knife to the fight we will bring a gun" Know there is no limit to their strategy to getting and keeping power. None!!

Little wonder then way they are committed to stopping all fossil fuel production, oil, coal and natural gas represent prosperity for everyone. When people become prosperous they become independent, which to the progressive socialist, is unacceptable.

Using Railroads Instead of Keystone XL
Source: Curtis Tate, "Rail Carries Canadian Crude While Keystone Pipeline Decision Simmers," McClatchy, March 6, 2014.
March 13, 2014

Oil producers are finding ways to transport Canadian oil even without the president's approval of Keystone XL, says McClatchy.

While the Obama administration continues to hold off on approving the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian tar sands oil -- a very thick oil -- is being shipped via railroad. The rail system had previously been thought too expensive an option for transporting the oil, but producers are realizing that rail has certain advantages that negate those costs.

• Railroad is faster than transport via pipeline, and it can go to more destinations.
• Because tar sands oil is so thick, it must be diluted.
• For transport in a pipeline, that means diluting it to the extent that the pipeline loses a third of its capacity.
• Shipping in a railcar, on the other hand, requires much less dilution and sometimes none at all.
• Unlike pipelines, trains go in two directions and can transport the diluent back to the producer after it is extracted from the oil, as the thinner is removed at destination.

Research by transportation consultant Malcolm Cairns found that Canada's two largest railroads -- Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway -- could transport between 600,000 and 800,000 barrels of Canadian crude oil every day within two years.

• Keystone XL's proposed capacity is 830,000 barrels per day.
• Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway both reach the Gulf Coast, which contains 45 percent of U.S. refinery capacity, and the trains can also reach the east coast, which Keystone cannot.

By 2035, tar sands in Alberta and Saskatchewan are estimated to be able to produce $3 million more barrels per day -- more than rail capacity. But even if pipelines are built, analysts expect railroads to be in it for the long haul. Companies are already increasing investment in loading facilities and constructing new terminals.