In the first part of 2014, U.S. shale drillers watched with growing alarm as rail regulators contemplated tough new oil-by-rail rules, fearing rapid changes might slow shipments from North Dakota’s Bakken fields and force them to curtail production due to a lack of new pipelines. What a difference a year makes. Now, with beat-down oil prices slamming the brakes on the shale industry’s breakneck growth, even tough new rules on phasing out older oil-tank cars and speed restrictions announced Friday are unlikely to thwart new production, experts say. The deceleration of growth in the shale plays has taken the pressure off rail operators to make up for a shortfall in pipeline capacity, particularly from North Dakota’s Bakken region, which relies on trains to ship as much as 60 percent of its output, according to state figures. “Oil producers have more to worry about than new […]