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An influential Senator yesterday accused oil companies of prevaricating over providing data to American regulators about the safety of crude by rail trains.

An analysis of oil spilled in the transportation process by Oil Change International using data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Office reveals that the number of spills from crude by rail increased by almost 10 times from 2008-2013.

The mayor of Albany, the capital city of New York State, has become the latest elected official of a major American city to demand that the Federal government increase the regulatory oversight of crude by rail trains.

US regulators reacted to the string of recent crude by rail accidents yesterday by ordering that companies shipping crude out of North Dakota's Bakken fracking fields must undertake extensive testing for signs of dangerous volatility.

This is getting embarrassing. Another month, another crude by rail accident in the US. Yesterday a 120-car train carrying tar sands oil derailed in western Pennsylvania.

Ten years from now we could be seeing over four times more crude oil transported by rail throughout the US and Canada, some 4.5 million barrels per day. Are we comfortable with that?

Another day and yet another crude oil train derails in North America, highlighting the growing risk of carrying crude by rail.