The "oil via rail" game has been a big winner for oil and gas producers across North America. So good, in fact, that CNOOC (CEO) is trying to get Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) to to move more than 500,000 barrels per day out of Alberta to export terminals on the West Coast of Canada. To many, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise. After all, CNOOC did just make a big oil sands acquisition earlier this year.
The release of this move raises many questions. Will oil via rail meet the same type of political opposition as pipelines? How much will this affect Enbridge (ENB -0.38%) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) plans to build pipelines for oil sands exports? Could this be the breakthrough in demand that Canadian oil sands producers Suncor (SU -0.26%) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ -0.40%) have been begging for? Fool contributor Tyler Crowe ponders all of these questions in the video below.
