North Dakota officials on Tuesday ordered the oil industry to reduce volatile gases in Bakken crude oil to make it safer to transport via oil trains.
The order by the state Industrial Commission, a three-member board that includes the governor, requires oil companies to use equipment that removes light, potentially explosive hydrocarbons before shipping. It takes effect April 1.
"This will significantly change the characteristics of [North Dakota] crude oil that's going into market," State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms, who oversees oil industry regulations, told the commission at a meeting in Bismarck.
About 50 oil trains, each carrying 1 million gallons or more of North Dakota crude, cross Minnesota each week — and most go through the Twin Cities. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton had urged the commission to impose standards to increase safety.
"We're pleased that they moved to reduce the volatility of Bakken crude oil," said David Christianson, a Minnesota Department of Transportation official who oversees freight and rail planning. "Removing a lot of light ends will go a long way toward making the oil much safer."
But Christianson said other steps also are needed to reduce the chance of oil train disasters, including proposed federal rules to strengthen tank cars and stepped-up inspections of track and equipment.
At least 15 major accidents involving crude oil or ethanol trains have occurred in the United States and Canada since 2006, including the July 2013 disaster at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people. Last December, a BNSF Railway oil train crashed near Casselton, N.D., triggering explosions, a huge fire and temporary evacuation of much of the town of 2,500 people. Just last month, an empty oil train derailed near the same city.
North Dakota oil companies opposed the oil conditioning measure, and its trade group, the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said all of the state's 11,000 wells have equipment, costing $200,000 to $400,000 per well, to condition crude oil.