Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP) announced today that it would make use of a new rail hub at Van Hook, North Dakota, capable of handling up to 35,000 barrels/day of production. The hub, to be built by U.S. Development Group (USD), will move the oil by pipeline or truck to rail cars from where the crude will be distributed across North America.
According to the press release:
This high-capacity facility will become part of the largest crude-by-rail network in the U.S. and will initially allow for the assembly of 15 to 17 crude unit trains per month, numbering up to 104 rail cars, for haulage on CP’s extensive network and to all parts of North America. Capacity will expand to accommodate up to 30 unit trains per month once the terminal is fully developed. … The new Bakken crude origination terminal will join USD’s St. James Rail Terminal (Louisiana), Eagle Ford Crude Terminal (Texas), Niobrara Crude Terminal (Colorado) and Houston Rail Terminal as part of a nationwide network of crude oil and related products terminals.
The announcement does not specify when the hub will be running at full capacity.