CALGARY – New figures compiled by the National Energy Board show a sharp decline in the amount of crude exported by rail so far this year.
Nearly 84,000 barrels a day moved south of the border on trains in the second quarter.
But that’s about 30 per cent less than the nearly 120,000 barrels a day that were exported by rail in the first quarter.
It’s an even sharper drop from the roughly 159,000 barrels a day in the last three months of 2014.
The plunge in crude-by-rail exports comes amid a severe weakening in crude prices — from above US$107 a barrel around the middle of last year to roughly US$40 now.
Rail is a more expensive mode of transport than pipelines.