CALGARY — TransCanada (TSX:TRP) is pointing to a new study on how pipeline safety stacks up against rail to show why two of its controversial projects should be built.
The report by the Fraser Institute says the rate of incidents or accidents per million barrels of transported crude is 4.5 times higher for rail than for pipelines.
The think-tank crunched data from Canada's Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada between 2003 and 2013 to come to that conclusion.
TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper highlighted the Fraser Institute study in a missive outlining the reasons why its long-stalled cross-border Keystone XL oil pipeline ought to be approved.
The study was also pointed out by Tim Duboyce, a spokesman for TransCanada's Alberta-to-New Brunswick Energy East proposal, in reaction to an Ontario Energy Board's finding that the project's risks outweigh its benefits.
North American oil producers have been increasingly looking to move their product on trains as pipeline proposals remain stalled.
