WSJ: Crude on derailed train would have violated new vapor-pressure cap

• The crude oil aboard the train that derailed and exploded two weeks ago in West Virginia contained so much combustible gas that it would have been barred from rail transport under safety regulations set to go into effect next month, WSJ reports.
• The oil’s vapor pressure was 13.9 psi, which exceeds the limit of 13.7 psi that North Dakota is set to impose in April on oil moving by truck or rail from the Bakken Shale.
• Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA), which shipped the oil, says it follows regulations governing the shipping and testing of crude; CSX, the railroad that carried the oil, says it had stepped up its inspections of the track along the route.
• The new information about the West Virginia accident likely will increase regulators’ focus on the makeup of oil being shipped by train; oil from sahle formations is known to contain far more combustible gas than traditional crude oil, which has a vapor pressure of ~6 psi.
• Top Bakken producers: CLR, EOG, WLL, HES, XOM, OAS, NOG, EOX, MRO