Select Sands to acquire UP-served loading facility in Arkansas

Frac sand supplier Select Sands Corp. announced the signing of a lease-to-purchase agreement to acquire a rail loading facility in Diaz, Ark.

Select Sands will acquire the facility — which is connected to a Union Pacific Railroad mainline — for $2.05 million to be paid to Newport Rail Loading Facility LLC over a five-year period. The facility is located 15 miles from Select Sands’ dry processing plant in Arkansas and can load one 25-car unit train per day.

Compared with competitors’ facilities, the company’s processing plant is 650 rail-miles closer to oil and gas markets in Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas, according to Select Sands. Rail destinations for certain varieties of Select Sands’ northern white frac sand now will include the Haynesville Basin in Louisiana and Permian Basin in Texas.

The Arkansas rail facility will accommodate dedicated loading to meet current supply commitments “while management considers expansion of the facility and other transportation infrastructure options,” said Select Sands President and Chief Executive Officer Zigurds Vitols in a press release.