Pembina acquisition to expand Alberta crude-by-rail terminalling, storage

Sept. 5, 2013
Pembina Pipeline Corp. acquired a site in the Alberta Industrial Heartland to support future development of a rail, terminalling, and storage complex to be called the Heartland Hub.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. acquired a site in the Alberta Industrial Heartland to support future development of a rail, terminalling, and storage complex to be called the Heartland Hub. The site features an existing rail system and utility infrastructure. Heartland Hub is a further build-out of Pembina’s larger Nexus terminal (PNT), providing crude oil and diluent customers with terminalling, storage, and rail.

The site is in close proximity to major oil sands pipeline rights-of-way, existing crude oil and petrochemical infrastructure, and Pembina’s Redwater site, the company said. Pembina expects Heartland Hub to provide interconnectivity via pipeline and rail to refining markets. The company described Heartland Hub as an integral part of PNT, which interconnects Pembina’s terminalling infrastructure in the Edmonton, Redwater, and Fort Saskatchewan areas.

Key features of the acquisition noted by the company include:

• 232 acres of well-developed industrial land.

• More than 5,000 linear ft of rail track, currently serviced by CN Rail.

• 160 acres of adjacent, existing Pembina land, which can be developed for future merchant storage and rail expansions.

• 1,280 acres of Pembina salt rights, close enough to support future cavern development.

• The ability to access more than 4-million b/d of existing and future oil sands and conventional crude through current and potential pipeline interconnections.

Pembina also entered into a multiyear agreement with a major North American refiner to load up to 40,000 b/d of crude oil railcars using existing PNT infrastructure, starting immediately.

The Heartland Hub purchase cost Pembina $20 million, funded by existing credit facilities.

Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].