Niobrara oil production depends on railroads to get to market, say feds

About 64 percent of the crude oil produced in the Niobrara formation, the rock layer at the center of Colorado’s oil boom, gets to market via railroad tank cars, according to a new analysis by the federal Energy Information Administration.

The EIA on Monday said it would start providing monthly data on how much crude oil moves around the nation via rail, in addition to information about pipeline, tanker and barge crude-oil traffic.

“The new crude-by-rail data provides a clearer picture on a…