Midstream - Rail & Trucks

Strobel Tapped to Operate Wyoming Crude Oil Terminal

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   |    Friday,December 20,2013

Strobel Starostka Transfer has been selected to operate Eighty-Eight Oil’s new crude oil unit train facility near Guernsey, Wyo.

The recently completed facility, which accommodated its first unit train this week, is the first rail terminal in the area capable of loading multiple crude types, including crude from the Bakken, Powder River Basin, Niobrara, Southwest Wyoming, Big Horn Basin and Canada.

Strobel Starostka Transfer has been selected to provide all operations and logistics at the facility including the hiring and training of all personnel, rail integration and all other logistics such as facility maintenance and infrastructure inspection. SST currently employs more than 20 at the terminal, with plans to increase to a total of 60 employees in 2014.

Strobel Starostka Transfer’s affiliate, Strobel Starostka Construction, served as Eighty Eight Oil’s design build partner for the project and broke ground on the facility in May. Located on BNSF’s main line near the Guernsey crude oil pipeline hub, the facility features three loop tracks with universal entry and exit from each direction. The terminal has an initial throughput capacity of up to 80,000 barrels per day and includes two designated loading tracks with separate racks – allowing two trains to be loaded simultaneously with the same or different crude types.

Steve Strobel, chief executive officer of Strobel Starostka Transfer and Strobel Starostka Construction, commented: "This is such a unique facility and we are so pleased to have been able to join the project at its inception, design it, construct it and see it all the way through to continual operation. Furthermore, because this terminal has been designed to handle multiple crude types, we are confident in its long-term viability, something we are very excited about."

Jerry Herz, superintendent of Eighty-Eight Oil, added: "Strobel Starostka Construction has done a great job constructing this facility, and their operating partner Strobel Starostka Transfer loaded our first unit train this week. This facility is the only one of its kind offering the flexibility to simultaneously load and transport different crude types to markets across the United States, adding value for all of our customers at the wellhead and at the refinery."

The new rail terminal is directly connected to Eighty-Eight Oil’s existing Guernsey crude oil terminal, which has 2 million barrels of storage capacity and access to multiple crude types, including Bakken crude, Wyoming sweet, Wyoming sour, Wyoming asphaltic and all pipeline-quality Canadian grades. Unlike many other rail facilities of its kind, this facility was custom designed with one-of-a-kind engineering and operations capabilities that allow it to handle varying crude types through the facility, while maintaining the quality of each one. For example, Western Canadian Select crude oil with an API gravity of 20 and 3 percent sulfur content can be loaded on one train, while Bakken crude oil with an API gravity of 40 and .20 percent sulfur content is being loaded on another. This flexibility allows for more optionality as producers ship their products to markets throughout the East, West and Gulf coasts and along the Mississippi River.