Savage expands crude-by-rail services in Canada

Savage Cos. today announced it has expanded crude-by-rail and truck transportation services in western Canada.

The company plans to offer those services at two new terminals in Unity, Saskatchewan, and Northern Sunrise County, Alberta, that are served by Class Is. The Unity Petroleum Rail Terminal in Unity has direct access to Canadian Pacific and features 45 rail-car spots. The terminal currently transloads crude on a manifest basis and a near-term expansion will boost capacity to 550 cars per month, Savage officials said in a press release.

A new terminal near Reno, Alberta, in Northern Sunrise County that will begin operations Feb. 1 has direct access to CN, they said. The facility will offer 160 rail-car storage spots with inbound and outbound track access, and provide transload services.

Both terminals will provide rail-car switching and spotting, transloading and car storage-related services for transporting crude by rail, as well as truck transportation services.

"These terminals will provide western Canadian crude, bound for key refinery markets, access to rail transportation," said Nathan Savage, Savage's senior vice president of oil and gas-Midstream Solutions Group. "Oil producers in this region often say their crude is 'land locked' due to a lack of transportation options. We believe this new service will help customers in western Canada solve these logistics challenges."