Dangers of flammable oil

Cestevenson said:

Another recognition of the danger of flammable oil. Fiery Oil-Train Derailments Prompt Calls For Less Flammable Oil : NPR

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Then they will complain about the trucks full of liquid propane, butane, etc. This makes no sense at all. What does make sense is to leave it in the ground.

"Dayton has joined activists in asking North Dakota to force oil companies to 'stabilize' the oil — to make it less explosive by separating out the flammable liquids."

What, exactly, are you supposed to do with those nasty "flammable liquids" after separation and transporting away the "stabilized" oil?

I wonder if there's a better way to transport crude... Hmmm... Here's a crazy idea (hey I'm just thinking out of the box here) - what if we put together a series of pipes? Like a line of pipes? We could call it a "pipeline".

Edit: Before anyone gets their knickers in a knot - :wink:

tga said:

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I wonder if there's a better way to transport crude... Hmmm... Here's a crazy idea (hey I'm just thinking out of the box here) - what if we put together a series of pipes? Like a line of pipes? We could call it a "pipeline".

Edit: Before anyone gets their knickers in a knot - :wink:

Click to expand...

I have a small investment in a company that builds those pipelines. Following them has taught me that building them is slow, and the rate of expansion in the Bakken Shale is so high, the pipeline builders just can't build fast enough. There are billions being poured into pipelines and processing plants (nat gas side, but the principle is the same) and they're still playing catch up. Many years of it.

So yeah - pipelines are a good idea and they are a much better way to transport the stuff. They take time to build though.