US crude by rail shipments tumble as oil-price spread narrows
Prices, pipelines and declining production will push volumes even lower
US shipments of crude by rail have almost halved this year due to the narrowing spread between domestic and international crude prices, new pipelines and declining oil production in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. Between January and May average daily movements of oil by rail tumbled by 45%, compared to the same period in 2015, down to just 443,000 b/d. On a monthly basis average shipments of crude by rail within the US plunged by 11.86m barrels - over 42% - from the same period a year earlier, down to around 16.2m barrels, according to Energy Information Administration data. In April US crude shipments by rail fell to a four-year low of 14.57m barrels (around 471,000 barrels a day). That's arou
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
