Exports of crude by train plunge

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 fewer 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 past three months of 2014.

The plunge in crude-by-rail exports comes amid a severe weakening in crude prices — from above $107 (U.S.) a barrel in the middle of last year to roughly $40 now. Rail is more expensive than pipelines.

Oil soared more than 10 per cent Thursday, its biggest one-day gain since March 2009, lifted by resurgent global stock markets and a report showing the U.S. economy grew faster than previously reported in the second quarter.

Oil had fallen to a 61⁄ 2- year low because of a global supply glut and worries about the health of China’s economy.

Analysts viewed Thursday’s gain as a reaction to the rebound in China’s main stock index, which rose the most in eight weeks, and don’t see anything pointing to a long-term rally in oil prices.

“One up day in a sea of consistent summer selling does not make for an imminent recovery in crude oil or in gasoline,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service.