Kinder Morgan, Imperial Oil to build crude rail terminal near Edmonton

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. and Imperial Oil on Friday announced plans to build the "Edmonton Rail Terminal" crude oil loading facility in Strathcona County, Alberta, via a 50-50 joint venture.

To be constructed and operated by Kinder Morgan, the $170 million rail terminal will connect to CN and Canadian Pacific mainlines. At startup in December 2014, the facility is projected to load one to three unit trains per day totaling 100,000 barrels of crude. Future expansions eventually would expand daily capacity to 250,000 barrels.

The Edmonton Rail Terminal will source all crude streams handled by Kinder Morgan for rail delivery to North American markets and refineries, Kinder Morgan and Imperial Oil officials said in a joint statement.

The facility will play an important role in improving access to markets for oil sands production, said Imperial Oil Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Kruger.

"Accessing new and existing markets is critical for our continued growth and responsible development of Canada's oil sands," he said. "The additional transportation capacity will be used for current and future production from the Kearl Oil Sands project, including the expansion phase, which will come on stream in late 2015."