Smart Sand Inc. announced that it acquired the rights to operate a unit train capable transloading terminal in Van Hook, N.D., to service the Bakken Formation. The company paid consideration of approximately $15.5 million to acquire certain assets at the Van Hook terminal, and has entered into a long-term lease agreement in connection with the transaction.
As part of this transaction, Smart Sand and Canadian Pacific (CP) have entered into a long-term agreement to service Van Hook directly along with the other key oil and gas exploration and production basins of North America. The company expects to have the Van Hook facility operational in April 2018.
“We are excited to partner with transportation leader CP to offer our customers competitive, efficient rail service for our Northern White Frac Sand to operating basins throughout North America. In particular, our new unit train capable terminal in Van Hook, N.D., allows us to continue growing our presence in the Williston Basin,” stated Charles Young, CEO of Smart Sand. “With our previously announced annual processing capacity expansion from 3.3 million to 5.5 million tons, our Oakdale, Wis., mining operation continues to deliver frac sand in the quantities and with the efficient logistics needed to support today’s higher-intensity finer mesh frac designs. This agreement with CP is another step forward toward Smart Sand’s goal of being an integrated mine to wellhead supplier of frac sand.”
“CP is committed to working with its strategic partners to drive sustainable growth in the frac sand market,” said Coby Bullard, CP’s vice president, sales and marketing, merchandise and energy, chemicals and plastics. “Working with Smart Sand to repurpose this existing rail facility into a high-efficiency sand terminal is well-aligned with our commercial strategy to maximize capacity and asset utilization. It capitalizes on our high-capacity corridor between the nation’s premier proppant-producing region and North Dakota’s Williston Basin.”