(Source: DeSmog Blog, July 9, 2015)
NEW YORK — As oil train protests continue across North America to mark the two-year anniversary of the Lac-Megantic disaster, trouble is brewing in Texas. At the recent Crude Markets and Storage Summit energy conference in Texas, Pat McGannon, vice president of Rangeland Energy, made the following statement.
“Rail provides a solution for high-gravity condensates.”
High gravity condensates are the result of the industry’s fracking for oil. Much of the product that comes out of the ground in the Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas is condensate which is also referred to as ultra light oil. So why does rail provide the solution for moving this ultra light oil?
Because the condensate/light oil can’t meet pipeline safety regulations for maximum specific gravity. The oil is too volatile and with a much higher specific gravity than allowed for transportation by pipeline.
Full story: DeSmog Blog