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Archive for August, 2014

Daniel Johnson Quoted by Argus on Crude-by-Rail Challenges

Posted on: August 11th, 2014

Daniel Johnson, Partner-in-Charge of the Houston office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP , recently was quoted about the challenges of transporting crude by rail in a publication of Argus Media, the London-based provider of data, news and market intelligence on global energy markets.

In an article headlined “Rolling Resistance” in the subscriber-only Argus Petroleum Transportation North America, Mr. Johnson discussed the regulatory patchwork of state and local laws confronting companies that want to ship oil by train. Specifically, many highly populated locales are wary of approving construction for new rail delivery unloading terminals.

“The industry is having to react in a very piecemeal manner,” Mr. Johnson says in the article. “If you are a shipper, rail company or producer, it is hard to know, ‘What do I need to go do, where do I need to make my investment so I am able to comply with the regulatory landscape?’”

Mr. Johnson predicts that ultimately industry will get most of its projects built, though not as quickly or easily as hoped. “As a society we are responding to a need, and that need is to add infrastructure and enhance infrastructure to support a growth industry in the U.S. It is not always a clean and easy process,” he tells Argus readers, “but I do think the regulatory process will unfold in a way to accommodate everybody.”