WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. rail delivery of crude oil was up 18.6 percent last week from the previous week, the American Association of Railroads said.
The AAR said Thursday 14,831 carloads of crude oil, or about 10.3 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the rail system last week.
So far this year, 665,450 carloads, or about 465 million barrels of oil, were delivered by rail, a 32.1 percent increase from the same period last year, the trade group said.
The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department, said domestic oil production averaged 8 million barrels in November, the highest for any month since 1988.
An accelerating pace of oil production in the United States has placed a burden on pipeline capacity, industry officials say. U.S. oil production has increased in part because of gains from states including Texas and North Dakota.
The AAR said its total for U.S. operations excludes deliveries from Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway.
