Oil From U.S. Fracking Is More Volatile Than Expected

[cali]

Millions of barrels of crude oil flowing from shale formations around the country—not just North Dakota—are full of volatile gases that make it tricky to transport and to process into fuel.

Oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale field has already been identified as combustible by investigators looking into explosions that followed train derailments in the past year.

But high gas levels also are affecting oil pumped from the Niobrara Shale in Colorado and the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin in Texas, energy executives and experts say.

Even the refineries reaping big profits from the new oil, which is known as ultralight, are starting to complain about how hard it is to handle with existing equipment. Some of what is being pumped isn't even crude, but condensate: gas trapped underground that becomes a liquid on the surface.

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http://online.wsj.com/articles/oil-from-u-s-fracking-is-more-volatile-than-expected-1403653344

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Fireworks.

Now that'll get someone's attention.

[cali]

2. oil transport by rail has grown fifty fold since 2008

More and more of this stuff is being shipped by rail in unsafe tanker cars on unsafe rail beds on unsafe routes.

Lac Megantic

[littlemissmartypants]

3. I know.

You are justified in your concern. My point is others rarely are concerned unless it is an up close and personal deal. People are just exhausted and numb I fear.