Christopher E. Smith
OGJ Pipeline Editor
HOUSTON, Mar. 2 -- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMEP) and Watco Cos. LLC will build and operate several rail facilities in key markets for loading and unloading crude oil, along with other commodities and products tied to the oil and gas industry.
The network will include markets such as Dore and Stanley, ND; Stroud, Okla.; and Houston as well as strategic loading facilities in the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas. Each facility will handle large unit train crude volumes along with manifest commodities such as frac sand, pipe, and drilling supplies.
The Dore facility will include Pioneer Oil LLC and have more than 10,000 ft of track in Phase I along with warehousing for inside storage. Watco expects the facility to enter service Sept. 1. Stroud will handle unit train volumes starting Oct. 1, providing customers direct access to Cushing, Okla. KMEP is 50% partner in a new venture building 750,000 bbl of new storage at Cushing (OGJ Online, Mar. 1, 2011).
The other locations are still in design phase and will be operational first-quarter 2012.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. will provide rail services for the project. BNSF also is serving Rangeland Energy LLC’s North Dakota oil terminal, COLT Connector, set to enter service by December (OGJ Online, Dec. 1, 2010).
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].
