The newly acquired terminal will be connected to Arc’s existing fuel oil and crude terminals in Alabama via pipelines to increase synergy in the company’s growing regional logistics operations, John Blanchard, president of Arc Terminals, told OPIS.

Also, the new terminal will have rail access for receiving crude from the Mid-Continent, he said. With access to the water, that terminal could deliver crude to other U.S. markets and/or export to Canada.

The newly acquired Mobile Terminal is a 1.2 million bbl facility that handles asphalt, crude oil, heavy fuel oil, and methanol for third party customers. The facility is marine, rail and truck capable.

The site includes approximately 30 acres of vacant land, which will be designated for incremental growth in its terminal assets.

The Saraland Rail Transloading facility transfers heavy crude oil and specialty products from railcars to Arc’s Mobile area terminals via trucks. Products can then be stored, blended, and delivered into marine vessels. The Saraland Rail Transloading site is currently being expanded to meet growing customer demand.

This acquisition will increase Arc’s presence in the Mobile, Alabama area and expand its capacity to over 2.5 million barrels of storage, and three rail loading and unloading operations.

GCAC will remain as a customer under a long term contract at the Mobile Terminal to facilitate its heavy  oils  marketing  and  trading  operations,  which  GCAC  retained  and  will  continue  to independently operate.

Arc and GCAC management will continue to jointly pursue its Canadian National Railway Company direct crude rail project in the Mobile area.

This rail terminal will initially focus on unloading heavy crude oil from Western Canada and light crude oil from the Bakken basin via the Canadian National Railway Company.

This facility will provide “rail to deep water” manifest and unit train unloading capabilities and will be the most efficient solution for the delivery of Canadian crude oil to the Gulf Coast.

Arc Terminals LP, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, is an independent terminal company with over 5.5 million bbl of storage that receives and distributes petroleum and petrochemical products throughout the United States via marine, pipeline, rail and truck.

Arc conducts its business primarily through long-term contracts with third party customers and does not own or market products stored in its terminals.
Last year, Blanchard told OPIS that Arc Terminals, is building a crude unloading facility in Mobile, Alabama, in cooperation with Canadian National Railway.

The rail facility, which will have a maximum crude handling capacity of approximately 75,000 b/d or up to 120 rail cars, is scheduled for first operation by June 30, 2013.
Depending on crude demand, the rail facility may kick off with an initial volume of 40 rail cars, and that volume could increase later.
The new rail facility will be the first crude unloading terminal in Alabama.