The Canada Energy Regulator says that crude-by-rail oil exports recovered in March due to better oil production and limited capacity to export heavy oil via pipelines.
The energy regulator says exports rose 57% to reach 175,580 barrels per day after 111,900 barrels per day (bpd) of Canadian crude oil were exported by rail in February of this year.
Exports in both months are down from 195,500 bpd in January and 350,570 in March 2020.
Crude-by-rail numbers have been volatile in recent years. Shipments reached a record 412,000 bpd in February 2020, then fell to an eight-year low of 39,000 bpd last July.
Rail transportation of crude oil is more expensive than shipping by pipeline so producers tend to use it only when pipelines are full or if the destination market offers much higher prices than can be achieved in Canada.
The Canada Energy Regulator says total oil exports from Canada in March were 3.66 million bpd, down from 3.72 million bpd in February and 3.98 million bpd in March 2020.
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