Oil Transportation Issues | Video

Jennifer Joas | 5/28/2012

As the state`s oil production grows, there are several constraints to transporting crude oil and natural gas. The main one being too much oil too fast.

"Any significant pipeline project takes a number of years to put together from the engineering side to the actual construction," said Justin Kringstad with the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

Kringstad says 75 percent of the crude oil gets exported by pipeline. There are six major pipeline projects in the business development or regulatory phases.

The other 25 percent is exported by rail, which has increased these past few years.

"The rail expansion we`ve seen the past several years has been phenomenal. Rail has played a very important part in ensuring we don`t have any barrels left stranded in North Dakota. So with rail we are able to move all the barrels that need to be moved to market adequately."

The Pipeline Authority is looking at the projections for the next five to 15 years so engineers and developers can work on solutions.

Gas gathering pipelines have also increased, thanks to the mild winter.

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