U.S. EIA now reporting monthly crude-by-oil movement

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is now providing monthly data on rail movements of crude oil.

The new crude-by-rail (CBR) data are featured with other EIA's monthly petroleum supply statistics, which include crude oil movements by pipeline, tanker and barge, the agency announced yesterday.

"EIA expects that the new data it has developed using information provided by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) along with data from other third-party sources and our own survey data, will provide key insights into oil-by-rail movements, including shipments to and from Canada," said EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski in a press release. "We welcome the cooperation of the STB as well as Canada’s National Energy Board in making these data accessible."

CBR activity is tracked between pairs of Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) regions (inter-PADD), within each region (intra-PADD) and across the U.S.-Canada border.

The data will help explain developments in domestic and U.S.-Canada crude oil flows, such as CBR's role in supporting growth in light tight oil production in the Bakken and Niobrara regions, EIR officials said.

Bakken oil production grew more than 1 million barrels per day (bbl/d) since 2010. Niobrara oil production has increased by 300,000 bbl/d between January 2010 and January 2015. Currently, 70 percent of Bakken production and 64 percent of Niobrara production are transported by rail.