Rangeland expands crude terminal
The capacity of Rangeland Energy's Crude Oil Terminal, or COLT Hub has been expanded to supply the growing demand of Bakken crude oil.
The oil rail terminal, located on 300 acres of land in North Dakota, US, has been expanded prior to its official opening, slated for May later this year.
The terminal was originally planned to open in Q1 2012 but this was delayed after severe rains and flooding hit the region in May and June last year, putting the construction 45 days behind schedule.
The expansion project saw Rangeland Energy add to the terminal's three 120,000 barrel crude oil storage tanks with a further two tanks of the same size.
This is the second time the COLT Hub has been expanded; Rangeland Energy already increased the capacity in May 2011 from its original plans last February.
Based in Williams County, Rangeland Energy's terminal and pipeline facilities are strategically located in the heart of the Bakken and Three Forks shale areas and will provide producers, marketers and refiners with North Dakota's first open-access crude oil marketing hub.
It will supply more than 100,000 barrels per day of takeaway capacity, and the rail line will be able to handle two 120-car unit trains every day, with each car carrying around 680 barrels of crude.
The facility also comprises an eight-bay truck station and two 8,700-foot rail loops. Rangeland also provides pipeline services into and out of the Hub through its COLT Connector and other planned gathering lines.
The Connector is a 21 mile, 10", bidirectional pipeline that will connect the COLT Hub to the Beaver Lodge/Ramberg junction and will be capable of transporting an additional 70,000 barrels per day. Rangeland is erecting an extra storage tank at Rambery to help facilitate these movements.
Rangeland Energy has already secured long-term contracts with Tesoro, Flint Hills and Sunoco, and is in the process of securing contracts with a number of other companies.
The company's president and CEO, Christopher Keene, described the terminal as a 'mini Cushing' and said the terminal's capacity will be full before its begins operations.
