Alberta buying its own rail cars to move oil without feds, Notley says

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says her government will buy its own rail cars to transport more oil to market.

She says her province wanted co-operation from the federal government to buy them, but with Alberta oil prices just about at record lows, it can’t wait any longer.

While plans for pipelines are stalled, Notley wants other means to get the product from Alberta’s oilpatch to buyers.

The deal should be done within weeks and Alberta expects the two new train sets will mean an extra 120,000 barrels of oil can be moved every day.

Notley says the world price of oil is low but Alberta is suffering even more because the oil it produces is stuck far away from refineries.

Notley is in Ottawa Wednesday to try to push the federal government to move faster, because Alberta’s problems are damaging the whole Canadian economy.

The Canadian Press