New Di-Corp terminal will accommodate rapid growth in frac sand demand from oil and gas industry
EDMONTON, July 3, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ – CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today it will start serving a new state-of-the art frac sand terminal north of Grande Prairie, Alta., starting in November 2013.
The new 20-acre facility being built by Di-Corp of Edmonton will have an annual throughput capacity of 550,000 tons of frac sand and have three tracks capable of holding 44 rail cars for unloading.
Trevor Derksen, vice-president of marketing at Di-Corp, a leading distributor of specialty chemicals, parts and accessories serving mining and drilling industries in Canada and the United States, said: “We are very pleased to be working with CN on this project in northwestern Alberta to help accommodate existing and expected growth in frac sand demand in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
“CN is an outstanding partner, providing cost-effective and reliable logistics services from frac sand origin in the Wisconsin Basin to destinations in Western Canada.”
Doug MacDonald, CN vice-president, Industrial Products, said: “Di-Corp is an important customer of ours, and we expect to help the company move more frac sand to energy markets. The new transloading terminal will create additional offloading and storage capacity at destination and also give our origin frac sand producers in the U.S. Midwest, Manitoba and elsewhere greater supply chain efficiencies and new market opportunities.”
Frac sand is used by oil and gas industries in the hydraulic fracturing process to hold shale fractures open and let natural gas and oil flow out.
CN is investing significantly in its frac sand franchise. CN announced last month it was accelerating work on the US$33 million-upgrading of a 74-mile rail line between Wisconsin Rapids and Blair, Wis., to increase car-loading capacity and train velocity for growing frac sand supply chains. In 2012, CN spent US$35 million to restore a 40-mile rail line between Ladysmith and Poskin, Wis., to serve the frac sand market.
MacDonald said: “Customers are at the forefront of CN’s business agenda. Through Operational and Service Excellence and continuing innovation, CN is focused on creating value for its customers and transforming the railway into a true supply chain enabler.”
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting approximately C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries — serves the ports of Vancouver,Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto,Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company’s website atwww.cn.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news release is “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the growth of the frac sand market, involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results or performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements.
Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” in CN’s annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN’s website, for a summary of major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement.
For further information:
CN Contacts:
Media
Mark Hallman
Director, Communications & Public Affairs
(905) 669-3384
Investment Community
Janet Drysdale
Vice-President, Investor Relations
(514) 399-0052
Di-Corp contact:
Media & Investors
Trevor Derksen
Vice-President, Marketing
(780) 395-5059