June 12, 2012 [OPIS] - Rangeland Energy LLC, a developer of midstream crude oil infrastructure, announced today that it has opened a new crude oil loading terminal (COLT) in the Bakken and Three Forks shale oil producing regions of North Dakota. The terminal will be connected via pipeline to existing and planned pipelines near Tioga, N.D., and will offer unit train service to various downstream markets throughout the U.S., including crude oil receiving terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The terminal is served by BNSF Railway Company. Unit train service began June 5.
Initial rail export capacity from the terminal is 120,000 b/d, the company said, with a 21-mile connector pipeline adding an additional 75,000 b/d of export capacity.
The bi-directional connector pipeline links the COLT terminal to the company’s Dry Fork terminal in Tioga, where multiple pipelines, including Tesoro and Enbridge pipeline systems, converge.
In addition to its export capability, the terminal also provides crude oil handling and storage service, with 720,000 bbl of on-site tankage capacity, the company says. Five 120,000-bbl storage tanks are located at the COLT Hub and an additional 120,000 bbl storage tank is located at Dry Fork.
Working storage capacity is expected to increase as Bakken production increases, the company said.
“With four large crude oil refiners and marketers as anchor customers, along with upstream and downstream connectivity by pipeline and rail, the COLT Hub will create a point of liquidity for Bakken crude oil production by bringing together multiple buyers and sellers at the terminal,” said Christopher Keene, Rangeland’s president and CEO.
The facility is North Dakota’s largest open-access crude oil marketing terminal, the company says.
