Frac sand destined for the oil and gas fields piles up at the EOG Resources Inc. processing plant in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA - 15 Dec 2011 Steve Karnowski.

15 March 2012

Canadian Pacific and Unimin Corporation Announce New Long-Term Agreement for the Movement of Frac Sand

Minneapolis Minnesota USA - Canadian Pacific Railway Limited today announced a multi-year agreement with Unimin Corporation of New Canaan, Connecticut, for the movement of frac sand from Unimin's facility in Wisconsin.
 
Unimin Corporation is North America's leading producer of industrial minerals. The facility, the Company's newest and most productive, will open in 2013 in Tunnel City, Wisconsin, and will produce two million tons of frac sand annually for energy markets in North Dakota, Texas, Colorado, and elsewhere.
 
Under the agreement CP will become the exclusive rail service provider at this facility for the movement of frac sand to Unimin Corporation's destination markets.
 
"We have a long relationship with CP at many of our plants in North America and we are delighted to expand this longstanding partnership," said Kevin F. Crawford, President and Chief Executive Officer at Unimin. "Rail is an effective way to move our products and CP is a reliable partner that will enable us to continue to deliver products to critical energy markets."
 
"Canadian Pacific has been serving Unimin, one of our largest Industrial Products customers, for more than three decades and we are pleased to continue to grow this partnership through service at its new facility," said Jane O'Hagan, Canadian Pacific's Chief Marketing Officer and EVP Marketing & Sales. "Canadian Pacific's scheduled railway will ensure we efficiently manage their increasing volumes with reliable service."
 
"This agreement showcases the strength of CP's network through Wisconsin with service to key energy regions throughout North America. CP has proven performance in our ability to move energy-related products and materials, such as frac sand, to important oil and gas producing formations," said O'Hagan. "Canadian Pacific has extended our energy franchise with ongoing capital investments on our U.S. Midwest network and is moving forward with our 2012 accelerated capital plan which includes investments that support our energy growth strategy. We are pleased to be in a position to provide the capacity to our customers to respond to the strong growth in the energy-related markets."
 
Canadian Pacific is the only North American railroad to serve the Bakken Formation, the Alberta Industrial Heartland, and the Marcellus Shale. In addition, CP is the only Class I railway to connect the energy hubs of the U.S. Midwest, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the Northeast U.S. Through its network to the Northeast U.S. and through the Kansas City gateway to the U.S. Gulf Coast, CP is able to partner with the energy industry to facilitate growth in moving oil and energy-related materials. Each year, CP moves hundreds of thousands of carloads of energy-related products, including crude oil, sulphur, fuels, diluents, and materials key to the energy industry, such as pipe and frac sand.