The National Energy Board says crude-by-rail exports from Canada rose to a record 269,829 barrels per day in September.
That’s up more than 17 per cent from 229,544 in August and just over double the 134,132 barrels per day recorded in September 2017.
READ MORE: Canadian crude by rail exports rise to new record of 229,544 bpd in August
Watch below: In October, Doug Vaessen spoke about Premier Rachel Notley’s call for the federal government to increase oil-by-rail.
Total crude exports reached 3.47 million bpd in September, up from 3.31 million a year earlier.
Pipeline export constraints are being blamed for a glut of oil in Western Canada that caused the price discount to peak at more than US$50 per barrel in October for Western Canadian Select oilsands blend versus New York benchmark West Texas Intermediate.
The province has called on Ottawa to help increase crude-by-rail shipments, estimating the discounts are costing the Canadian economy as much as $80 million per day.
READ MORE: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley proposes Ottawa get into crude-by-rail business
Meanwhile, oilsands producers such as Cenovus Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. are ramping up crude-by-rail volumes to get barrels to markets where they will receive better prices.
Cenovus has called on the province to impose production cuts to reduce the oil oversupply in Alberta but the suggestion has been panned by rivals who are insulated from discounts because they have firm pipeline contracts or use their oil in their own refineries.
READ MORE: Alberta energy firms split on call for government-imposed oil production cuts
Watch below: (From November 2015) A massive discount on the price of Alberta oil has Cenovus asking the government to step in. As Tom Vernon explains, the oil company wants the premier to follow Peter Lougheed’s lead.