Today is the final day to submit comments as part of the Uinta Basin Railway Environmental Impact Statement, which is one of the final components in seeing the rail go from being a proposal to a reality. On February 11th, the S&P Global online publication featured an in-depth article on the proposed Uinta Basin Railway and what it could mean for the future of oil and gas in the Uinta Basin. S&P Global analyst Parker Fawcett shares in the article that the Uinta Basin Railway would likely be cheaper transportation for oil companies than trucking the oil from eastern Utah to Salt Lake City. “Uinta production has long been declining as it is a high operating cost, low-producing basin,” Fawcett said. “The basin is a mature, conventional play, and is the least economic of the plays across the US. The crude is discounted significantly and the differential is thus set to the cost of transport from the basin to Salt Lake City, minus a quality discount…It adds a bit of cost, but I would think it’s still more economical to ship(by rail) to the US Gulf Coast or across the Rockies than it is to truck via heated truck to Salt Lake City.” The article explores other aspects of the project and states that if all goes as planned, the operating license and federal permits should be in hand this year, with up to 18 months to design and procure the project. Construction is estimated for 2023, with operation hoped for in early 2025. To read the entire article, titled ‘Uinta Basin oil shipments may get boost from proposed rail line’, visit SPGlobal.com. To submit a public comment about the project for the EIS, visit www.uintabasinrailwayEIS.com.
