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CN has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd. to construct a crude oil rail-car loading terminal near Cromer, Manitoba, to meet the needs of Bakken Shale crude-oil producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The terminal will be designed to initially load 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day into rail cars, beginning in second-quarter 2013. The facility will have the potential to accommodate a unit train of 100 tank cars, with each train carrying about 60,000 barrels per day, CN officials said in a prepared statement.

The new terminal, combined with 410,000 barrels of oil storage capacity being added to an existing Cromer facility, will provide Tundra Energy access to alternative North American markets for Williston Basin crude oil over CN's network "at a time when there is inadequate pipeline takeaway capacity," said Tundra Energy President Bryan Lankester.

The Cromer transload terminal is designed to be expandable, helping to generate greater efficiencies and market reach for Canadian crude oil, said Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN's executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

"Working closely with companies such as Tundra Energy Marketing is making the transportation of crude oil one of CN's fastest growing businesses," he said. "We expect to move more than 30,000 carloads of crude oil in 2012, and we believe we have the scope to double this crude oil business next year."