Canada tries out bitumen 'road apples'
A novel way of transporting bitumen could help overcome Canada’s export pipeline shortage
Backers of the planned new method of transportation hope it will chime with lovers of the country's national sport. In ice-hockey-mad Canada, children call frozen pieces of horse manure "road apples", used as an erstwhile substitute for hockey pucks when none are in supply. It is wryly symbolic that the Canadian National Railway (CN) is embarking on a C$15mn ($11.3mn) pilot plan to solidify bitumen into a similar puck-like form to facilitate transport by rail. The company aims to encase thick and gooey heavy oil in a biodegradable polymer-recycled plastic grocery bags essentially-it calls Canapux, a bitumen pellet that can easily be transported by rail without the need for pipelines. The co
Also in this section
22 April 2026
The failure of OMV Petrom’s keenly watched exploration campaign at Bulgaria’s Han Asparuh block highlights the Black Sea’s uneven track record, despite major successes like Neptun Deep and Sakarya
22 April 2026
Sustained strikes on ports, terminals and refineries are testing the resilience of Russia’s oil export system, yet rapid repairs, rerouting and surging prices mean the campaign has yet to deliver a decisive blow
21 April 2026
After overcoming a COVID-induced demand collapse with several years of successful market management, geopolitical events have conspired to provide the pact’s biggest test to date
21 April 2026
The regime’s policy of using nuclear ambiguity as a deterrent may have failed but it has realised it has other cards to play, while its neighbours are reappraising their approach to security
