As 57,000 miles of U.S. crude pipelines threaten to lure business from railroads, Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC and Union Pacific Corp. are sticking to their bet on the nation’s energy boom.
Domestic oil that was significantly cheaper than imported crude for the last two years allowed refiners to pay rail service’s higher transportation costs rather than use slower, less expensive pipelines. With the oil price difference now narrowing, the share of crude shipped by rail from Williston Basin region in and around North Dakota has decreased for three consecutive months, the longest string of declines since 2011.
