Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/142021 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1575
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
We present a medium-term market equilibrium model of the North American crude oil sector via which we develop a scenario analysis to investigate strategies to mitigate the environmental and public-safety risks from crude-by-rail transportation across the United States. The model captures crude oil movements across rail- roads, pipelines and waterways, while distinguishing between light and heavy crude qualities. We find that restricting rail loads or increasing pipeline capacity from areas driving production will significantly reduce rail movements. However, lifting the United States crude oil export ban in isolation will only increase rail transportation volumes. We show that an integrated policy of targeted rail caps, pipeline investments and lifting the export ban sustainably addresses medium-term crude-by-rail risks in the United States.
Subjects: 
crude-by-rail
market equilibrium
mixed complementarity problem
transportation capacity
infrastructure investment
JEL: 
Q31
Q38
L71
C61
C72
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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