The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, Sept. 3, edition that the oil-by-rail phenomenon has emerged as pipelines clogged up in Western Canada and new projects began stalling. The Post's Yadullah Hussain writes that as discounts between Western Canada Select and West Texas Intermediate rose as high as $25 per barrel, it made economic sense for companies to load barrels on rail and ship to, say, the Gulf Coast for about $12 per barrel and still turn a profit. During this time, Western Canada's rail capacity has shot up to 776,000 barrels per day and more terminals are being planned. Rail economics went awry, however, as the oil differentials narrowed considerably to about $11 per barrel on average in the first half of 2015. Canadian rail shipments of oil fell to 83,000 bpd in the second quarter, considerably lower than the 250,00 bpd estimated by the industry for this year. Canadian Pacific Railway saw its crude carloads drop 24 per cent in the second quarter, while Canadian National Railway witnessed a 27-per-cent decline compared with the same period last year. CN says narrowing crude spreads and improved pipeline supply/demand balance are crimping crude-by-rail economics.