The Pioneer Terminal expansion consists of a double loop track that can accommodate two 120 rail car unit trains, 180,000 bbls of crude oil storage, a high-speed loading facility that can accommodate 10 rail cars simultaneously, and transfer stations to receive crude oil from local gathering pipelines and trucks. One gathering pipeline is already in service and is expected to provide about 8,000 barrels per day of oil to the Pioneer Terminal.

Dakota Plains is in the final stages of completing a transition with its joint venture partner to assume the management oversight of the Pioneer Terminal operations. The project is within the company’s $50 million budget.

The inbound oilfield products business at the Pioneer Terminal continues to develop, the company said. Construction is underway for the $15 million frac sand terminal announced with UNIMIN earlier this year; completion is scheduled for May 2014. The frac sand terminal, which will be fully funded by UNIMIN, will comprise 8,000 tons of fixed sand storage, an enclosed transloading facility, and four ladder tracks. Interim frac sand transloading is expected to commence in January 2014, while construction of the permanent facility is still underway.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Craig McKenzie, said, “With price spreads and throughput volumes at their current high levels, and with our newly expanded Pioneer Terminal soon allowing higher throughput volumes, we believe we will be well-positioned for profitability as we move forward. To this end, the joint venture has just secured its first third-party-marketer shipment for January 2014, which will use its own rail cars to augment our fleet and supplement our own marketing efforts.”

“Under the leadership of our President and COO, Mr. Gabe Claypool, the Pioneer Terminal expansion project team has achieved outstanding performance that includes over 111,000 work-hours with no lost-time safety incidents, an under-budget cost, and commissioning set to commence by December 18, 2013,” he added.