CSX-served crude unloading facility opens at Philadelphia refinery

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) officials on Tuesday marked the opening of a new CSX Transportation-served rail unloading facility at a Philadelphia refinery.

PES received a $10 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Rail Transportation Assistance Program to connect 26,850 feet of new track to a CSX mainline, enabling the refinery to unload two unit trains per day carrying 140,000 barrels of crude.

"A year ago we celebrated a joint venture that would preserve thousands of good-paying jobs in the region and position this refinery for success in the future. Today we celebrate that future," said Corbett in a press release. "The addition of this rail yard connects [PES] to the low-cost resources [it] needs to compete for years to come."

The rail unloading facility will enable PES to receive lower-cost crude produced in the Bakken Shale in parts of North Dakota, Montana and southern Saskatchewan. In September 2012, Sunoco and The Carlyle Group finalized a sale agreement to form PES so the Philadelphia refinery could continue operating.

"Our Southeast refineries are a symbol of the connection that exists between Pennsylvania's expanding energy industry and the potential we have to achieve energy independence in North America," said Corbett.