CP and KCS Railway part of plan to ship "safer" Canadian oil product
December 9th, 2019
December 9, 2019 - TRA Newswire / NaturalGasIntel.com -
Canadian Pacific and KCS Railway will be moving a new crude-oil product from Canada to a terminal to be built at Port Arthur, it was announced this past week.
Five Canadian and American firms have teamed up in a creative way to export a new brand of concentrated oil sands bitumen on trains from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. A target of mid-2021 has been set to start the shipments rolling.
DRUbit™, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil specifically designed for rail transportation will be processed at a diluent recovery unit near Hardisty, Alberta. The diluent, a blend of light petroleum grades normally used to break down thick and heavy crude so it can be transported by rail, will remain in Canada where it will be used to treat oil flowing through pipelines. Removing the diluent from shipments by rail would result in a lower transport risk.
ConocoPhillips will process 50,000 barrels a day of inter bitumen blend through the patented process and then ship by rail to the Gulf Coast. “From an innovation, sustainability and safety perspective, this is a game changer,” said CP CEO Keith Creel. “This process removes diluent from the crude-by-rail supply chain, and as a result we end up moving a non-hazardous commodity. This will further increase the safety of crude-by-rail, to the benefit of the communities we operate in and through."
The Port Arthur terminal will be built, owned and operated solely by US Development Group LLC. It will have the capability for rail unloading, barge dock loading and unloading, tank storage and blending, and will be pipeline connected to Phillips 66’s Beaumont Terminal.
For KCS, the arrangement represents an opportunity to grow business in the Gulf Coast and "develop our Port Arthur asset," said KCS President and CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer.
Canadian Pacific and KCS Railway will be moving a new crude-oil product from Canada to a terminal to be built at Port Arthur, it was announced this past week.
Five Canadian and American firms have teamed up in a creative way to export a new brand of concentrated oil sands bitumen on trains from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. A target of mid-2021 has been set to start the shipments rolling.
DRUbit™, a proprietary heavy Canadian crude oil specifically designed for rail transportation will be processed at a diluent recovery unit near Hardisty, Alberta. The diluent, a blend of light petroleum grades normally used to break down thick and heavy crude so it can be transported by rail, will remain in Canada where it will be used to treat oil flowing through pipelines. Removing the diluent from shipments by rail would result in a lower transport risk.
ConocoPhillips will process 50,000 barrels a day of inter bitumen blend through the patented process and then ship by rail to the Gulf Coast. “From an innovation, sustainability and safety perspective, this is a game changer,” said CP CEO Keith Creel. “This process removes diluent from the crude-by-rail supply chain, and as a result we end up moving a non-hazardous commodity. This will further increase the safety of crude-by-rail, to the benefit of the communities we operate in and through."
The Port Arthur terminal will be built, owned and operated solely by US Development Group LLC. It will have the capability for rail unloading, barge dock loading and unloading, tank storage and blending, and will be pipeline connected to Phillips 66’s Beaumont Terminal.
For KCS, the arrangement represents an opportunity to grow business in the Gulf Coast and "develop our Port Arthur asset," said KCS President and CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer.