Freight

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to update regulations and require operators that use tank cars to transport flammable liquids — including crude oil and ethanol — to retrofit or phase-out older models and build new cars with more stringent standards.

Ryder Systems Inc., a transportation, logistics and supply chain management company that has made a large commitment to natural gas and other alternative transportation technologies, has an initiative to penetrate U.S. shale plays, CEO Robert Sanchez said during a second quarter earnings conference call.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the impact of growing shale oil and gas development on the nation’s rail and pipeline infrastructure.

Drillers in northeastern Pennsylvania — the dry gas area of the Marcellus Shale — in the months ahead will stomp on the brakes with both feet and jam the dry gas freight train into reverse, according to an analysis by Bentek Energy LLC. Even if they do, a bulging gas surplus will fester behind pipeline capacity constraints for years to come, the firm said.

Drillers in northeastern Pennsylvania — the dry gas area of the Marcellus Shale — in the months ahead will stomp on the brakes with both feet and jam the dry gas freight train into reverse, according to an analysis by Bentek Energy LLC. Even if they do, a bulging gas surplus will fester behind pipeline capacity constraints for years to come, the firm said.

Constellation Energy completed the divestiture of its Houston-based downstream gas unit as well as a majority of its London-based coal, freight and international commodities business. And last Wednesday the former Constellation gas trading business was integrated with the existing operations of Macquarie Cook Energy in Houston, parent Macquarie Group said.

Constellation Energy has completed the divestiture of its Houston-based downstream gas unit as well as a majority of its London-based coal, freight and international commodities business, it said Monday. On Wednesday the former Constellation gas trading business will be integrated with the existing operations of Macquarie Cook Energy in Houston, parent Macquarie Group said.

Transwestern extended through at least Saturday the force majeureassociated with a freight train derailment near its mainline innorthwest new Mexico (see Daily GPI, Nov. 2). The derailed cars have beenremoved but harsh weather delayed the start of pipe inspection untilFriday, a spokeswoman said. Crews were hoping to restore servicebetween Stations 5 and 6 Sunday, she said. A capacity constraintremained in effect going into the weekend, but it had been reducedfrom 400,000 MMBtu/d to 300,000 MMBtu/d.

Transwestern declared force majeure after a freight trainderailed near its mainline in northwest New Mexico. The derailmentoccurred Sunday afternoon but the pipeline did not learn about ituntil Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman. As a precaution,Transwestern immediately took the line out of service betweenStations 5 (Thoreau) and 6 (Laguna). Westbound deliveries from theEast of Thoreau area and eastbound deliveries from San Juan Basinhave been suspended until further notice, affecting about 400,000MMBtu/d, the pipeline said. The line will be inspected and returnedto service once the train cars have been removed, which wasexpected to be completed by late Tuesday afternoon.