Service & Supply | New Company / Start-Ups | Oilfield Services | Capital Markets
Esmark Switching Gears; Eyes Marcellus, Utica Service Ops
Email
Print 
Bookmark
Esmark, Inc., a diversified holding company with interests in steel manufacturing and distribution, oil and gas exploration and production and real estate services, is converting the former Ohio Cold Rolling Company steel finishing mill in Yorkville, Ohio into a tri-modal industrial services terminal to support companies engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays.
Esmark, which two years ago acquired the former Yorkville steel finishing mill and recently announced its closing, will repurpose the one million-square-foot mill facility into the newly named Yorkville Energy Services Terminal, a tri-modal (rail/truck/barge) logistics and transportation hub serving the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia Shale Plays. Conversion and initial retrofitting of the facility infrastructure is already underway.
James P. Bouchard, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Esmark, Inc., said market dynamics, pricing disparities in the hot-rolled steel and tinplate markets, and the explosive growth of oil and gas exploration and production in the region were key factors in the decision to repurpose the Yorkville facility.
Bouchard commented: "The steel services industry has changed dramatically since Esmark acquired the Yorkville finishing mill in 2012, and we believed the idled facility was ideally suited to serve companies engaged in oil and gas exploration and production. With its on-site rail, truck and barge access and complementary heavy equipment, Yorkville Energy Services Terminal offers companies a fully integrated logistics and transportation solution."
According to J. Gregory Pilewicz, President of Yorkville Energy Services Terminal and Esmark, Inc., the terminal market opportunity is driven by several powerful trends, including the forecast of continued steady growth in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Formation’s drilling and exploration fields.
Pilewicz added: "The significant upstream, midstream and downstream expansion, coupled with the resources required for horizontal drilling in the region, provide a strategic opportunity for the terminal and we believe our tri-modal platforms and services infrastructure will be in great demand."
Pilewicz added that as many as 50 to 75 jobs could be created at the terminal when operational.
Among the platforms, services and features available at the Yorkville Energy Services Terminal are:
- Tri-Modal Logistics – Truck, Barge, Rail;
- Fresh Water Off-Take – Possible 3 million gallons per day (Ohio River Permit);
- Existing Water Treatment Plant;
- Rail Access – Wheeling Lake Erie & Norfolk Southern Railways, including 13 Internal Rail Spurs;
- Barge Access – Ohio River frontage with On-Site Barge Dock;
- Dry Storage – one million-square-feet under one roof for interval laydown and trans-loading;
- Industrial Utility Support including 33 Overhead Cranes;
- Over 100 acres of open land; and
- 10 Minutes from Interstate 70
Pilewicz said that a number of large and mid-sized energy services companies are interested in locating at the Yorkville Energy Services Terminal, including companies engaged in materials handling and trans-loading, rail switching and stowage, fresh water services, field lay-down, production flow-back water treatment and chemical store and forward. Discussions with several prospective tenants are underway.