7 Oil elbows out other sectors in rail transport anadian oil producers shipped more than 200,000 barrels a day of oil by rail last summer – a record high, Crude-by-rail is Cand nearly double the amount they shipped in the “ causing problems summer of 2017. But what has been a saving grace in dealing for other with transportation bottlenecks caused by a lack of pipeline commodities. capacity has turned into a problem for shippers of other ” commodities. Rising crude-by-rail shipments have served to elbow out grain and metals in particular. In 2018, grain farmers were particularly vocal in their complaint that rail companies were prioritizing oil shipments over grain, keeping them from getting their product to market in a timely manner. There might be some relief this year. In addition to Alberta’s railcar purchase and production costs, replacement of Enbridge’s Line 3 is expected to add 370,000 barrels a day of pipeline capacity in the second half of 2019. At the same time, oil sands producer Cenovus signed three-year deals with Cana- da’s two big rail companies to move 100,000 barrels a day of heavy crude by rail, suggesting crude-by-rail will continue to play a role in 2019. RBC Economics Research | Navigating 2019 - 9 big insights for the year ahead | January 2019 17