CALGARY, Oct. 18, 2012 - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) and Tundra Energy Marketing Limited announced today they have signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a crude oil rail car loading terminal near Cromer, Man., to meet the needs of Bakken crude oil producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The terminal will initially load 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day into rail cars - the equivalent of more than 50 tank cars worth - starting in the second quarter of 2013. The facility will have the potential to accommodate a unit train of 100 tank cars, with each train carrying approximately 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
Bryan Lankester, president of Tundra Energy Marketing, said: "This project, combined with 410,000 barrels of oil storage currently under construction at our terminal in Cromer - a six-fold increase in existing capacity -- will provide us with access to alternative North American markets for Williston Basin crude oil over CN's network at a time when there is inadequate pipeline takeaway capacity. Our Cromer location at the most easterly point of crude oil production in Canada should provide a market advantage to our crude oil producers and shippers."
Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, said: "We are pleased to be a key supply chain enabler for Tundra Energy Marketing. CN will help Tundra's customers reach markets with good net-backs for their crude. And further growth will be part of the story - the Cromer transload terminal is expandable, with the potential to handle complete crude oil unit trains of more than 100 cars, which will generate greater efficiencies and market reach for Canadian crude oil.
"Working closely with companies such as Tundra Energy Marketing is making the transportation of crude oil one of CN's fastest growing businesses. We expect to move more than 30,000 carloads of crude oil in 2012, and we believe we have the scope to double this crude oil business next year."
About Tundra Energy?Tundra Energy Marketing handles crude oil on behalf of producers in the Williston Basin, including its parent company, Tundra Oil & Gas Partnership, which has been an active driller in the area for the past 32 years.
About CN:
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements?Certain information included in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements, including statements related to the growth of the crude oil transportation market, involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results or performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements. Important factors that could affect the above forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement.
