Rangeland
Energy (“Rangeland”) today announced that the largest frac sand
unit train shipped to date in North America has arrived at the company’s
RIO Hub located near Loving, New Mexico.
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A record-breaking 150-car unit train carrying 33 million pounds of frac sand arrives at Rangeland Energy's RIO Hub near Loving, New Mexico. (Photo: Business Wire)
The RIO Hub is part of Rangeland’s RIO System, which serves oil and gas
producers in the Delaware Basin. The record 150-car unit train carried
16,500 tons (33 million pounds) of frac sand and was powered by five
diesel locomotive engines. The unit train originated in Ottawa,
Illinois, and was operated by BNSF
Railway Company (“BNSF”), which transferred service of
the train in Clovis, New Mexico, to its short-line railway partner, Southwestern
Railroad Inc. (“SWRR”), for direct delivery to the RIO Hub.
The unit train arrived on October 2 and was unloaded within 22 hours.
The sand was stored at the RIO Hub and will supply an operator with a
large quantity of sand for high-volume hydraulic fracture jobs in the
Delaware Basin. Demand for sand in the Delaware Basin remains high, and
unit train service provides a more cost-effective and reliable means of
shipping large volumes of sand than manifest service.
“Despite the current pricing environment, the Delaware Basin remains an
economic play, and producers operating in the region continue to require
increasingly large volumes of frac sand to drill and complete their
wells,” said Rangeland Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer Steve Broker. “Our goal is to serve the needs of our customers,
and we are pleased to have the capacity and flexibility to receive this
record-breaking unit train at RIO. Rangeland was able to accommodate the
unit train’s arrival and unload it in a timely manner because we
designed the RIO Hub to have the size and scale to meet the sand or oil
market’s requirements in a way that increases efficiencies and reduces
costs. We expect sand volumes to continue to increase as operators drill
longer wells and complete larger fracs. We are well positioned to meet
those needs at the RIO Hub.”
About the RIO System
The RIO
System is a multipart system designed to support the production
of crude oil and condensate in the Delaware Basin. The RIO Hub is a
300-acre rail facility located near Loving, New Mexico, in the center of
the basin’s drilling and production activity. The terminal provides
services for outbound crude oil and condensate and inbound frac sand.
The hub, which was fully commissioned in July 2015, provides frac sand
suppliers with unit train unloading, silo storage and truck loading
facilities for moving large quantities into the Delaware Basin. Initial
rail-to-truck transload service began in November 2014. To date the RIO
Hub has received 31 unit trains and additional manifest railcars.
Approximately 522,784 tons (1.05 billion pounds) of frac sand have been
distributed to the region. Rangeland commissioned 26,000 tons of silo
storage capacity in early August. Demand continues to be strong in the
Delaware Basin, and Rangeland expects volumes to increase significantly
in the months ahead. As a result, Rangeland plans to expand the RIO Hub
to accommodate more than 1 million tons of frac sand per year. Rangeland
also is working with crude oil and condensate customers regarding the
installation of truck unloading facilities, tankage and storage services
and rail and pipeline connectivity.
Now under construction, the RIO Pipeline originates at the RIO State
Line Terminal located at the Texas-New Mexico border near Mentone,
Texas. The terminal will serve as a crude oil gathering hub by providing
storage tanks and truck unloading facilities. The RIO Pipeline will
terminate at the RIO Midland Terminal, which will provide tankage and
connections to various terminals and interstate pipelines serving
Cushing and Gulf Coast markets. Rangeland has executed contracts with
numerous shippers and expects the pipeline and the two terminals to come
into service in May 2016. The RIO Pipeline will have an ultimate
capacity of more than 120,000 barrels per day.
About Rangeland Energy
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Rangeland Energy was formed in 2009
to focus on developing, acquiring, owning and operating midstream
infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and other
petroleum products. The company is primarily focused on emerging shale
plays across North America with an emphasis on West Texas, the Gulf
Coast, California and Canada. Rangeland successfully developed the COLT
system in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale and sold the system in 2012. The
Rangeland team represents more than 150 years of combined midstream
experience and is backed by an equity commitment from EnCap
Flatrock Midstream. Visit www.rangelandenergy.com for
more information.
About EnCap Flatrock Midstream
EnCap Flatrock Midstream provides value-added private equity capital to
proven management teams focused on midstream infrastructure
opportunities across North America. The firm was formed in 2008 by a
partnership between EnCap Investments L.P. and Flatrock Energy Advisors.
Based in San Antonio with offices in Oklahoma City and Houston, EnCap
Flatrock is led by Managing Partners William D. Waldrip, Dennis F. Jaggi
and William R. Lemmons Jr. The firm manages investment commitments of
nearly $6 billion from a broad group of institutional investors. EnCap
Flatrock is currently making commitments to new management teams from
EFM Fund III, a $3 billion fund. www.efmidstream.com.
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