Canadian National is in talks to build more oil terminals after an agreement last month to construct a facility serving Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau said. "Rapid-deployment terminals" as little as a tenth of that size also are in the works, he said.
Cargo from Alberta's oil sands is buoying Canadian National while Canadian Pacific (CP) benefits from tracks serving North Dakota's Bakken Shale formation. Canadian Pacific opened a rail hub in the state this year and is investing C$90m ($90.4m) to upgrade a Saskatchewan-to-Minnesota line.
"Crude by rail is becoming a reality," said Walter Spracklin, a transportation analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. "Before, it was a theory."
