June 30, 2011 [OPIS] - U.S. Development Group LLC (USDG), a Houston-based developer of unit train logistics and terminal facilities, said on Wednesday that it is expanding its St. James Rail Terminal (SJRT), a crude oil and condensate handling and distribution hub located in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana.
Upon completion by the fourth quarter of 2011, the expansion will double the terminal’s current capacity to 130,000 b/d or two unit trains per day. SJRT is part of a nationwide network of crude oil/condensate facilities being developed by USDG, along with the recently announced Eagle Ford Crude Terminal in Gardendale, Texas, scheduled to open next month.
USDG is actively developing several new origin and destination hub facilities. The company plans to construct five such facilities within the next 18 months as part of its expansion plan.
The growing USDG network will offer capacity for significantly higher rail volumes of oil and condensate from the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Niobrara and other major production areas into refining and oil distribution centers on the East, Gulf and West coasts of North America. Served by the Union Pacific Railroad, U.S. Development Group’s St. James facility is currently receiving manifest and unit train shipments of crude oil, condensate and related products from the Bakken and Eagle Ford Shale plays. SJRT is connected via pipeline to an adjacent state-of-the-art crude oil/condensate storage terminal operated by Plains Marketing LP.
The expanded SJRT unit train facility will consist of approximately seven miles of rail track and a fully automated 52-spot high-speed railcar offloading rack. U.S. Development Group companies are engaged in designing, developing, owning and managing large-scale rail logistics centers in North America. U.S. Development Group is also involved in unit rail facility development for biofuels, crude oil/condensate and industrial product distribution.
