CHICAGO, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Arc Terminals LP (Arc Terminals) announced today it is working with CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) to build a rail tank car unloading terminal in Mobile, Ala., to handle Western Canadian heavy and Bakken light crude oils destined to Gulf Coast refineries.

The CN-served facility, which will have a maximum crude-oil handling capacity of 75,000 barrels or up to 120 tank cars per day, is scheduled to start operation by June 2013. Initial volume is expected to be 40 tank cars of crude oil daily, increasing according to demand.

John Blanchard, president of Arc Terminals, said: "The Mobile facility - the first rail tank car crude-oil unloading terminal in Alabama - will provide good access to Gulf Coast refineries and allow quick turnaround of tank cars, increasing product delivery and fleet velocity and reducing costs for car owners.

"The rail transload terminal will handle heavy crude oil from Western Canada and light crude oil from the Bakken basin via CN, which will provide Canadian producers single-haul service to our Mobile destination. A single-line haul is more efficient and less expensive than those involving two or more rail carriers and multiple terminal switching."

The Mobile terminal will also load condensate into tank cars for backhaul by CN to Western Canadian oil producers.

In addition, it will be able to accommodate both general purpose and insulated and coiled cars, compared with other facilities capable of handling only general purpose tank cars.

Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, said: "We are pleased to be an important supply chain partner for Arc Terminals. CN is focused on making its crude-oil customers more competitive and giving them access to markets with good net-backs. Crude oil by rail is one of CN's fastest growing businesses. We expect to move in excess of 30,000 carloads in 2012, and we believe we have the scope to double this business next year."

Arc Terminals is an independent terminal company serving suppliers, marketers and refiners seeking to move price-advantaged crude oil to the Gulf Coast. The new rail transloading facility will be connected to Arc Terminals' Blakely tank farm via a new pipeline. Once the product reaches Arc Terminals' facilities, crude oil can be delivered efficiently to customers on the Gulf Coast via pipeline or by vessel as far as Corpus Christi, Tex.

The Blakeley terminal has a storage capacity of 700,000 barrels for crude, fuel oil and asphalt. Terminal capacity could be expanded to more than one million barrels to meet potential future demand.

About Arc Terminals LP
Arc Terminals owns and operates 11 petroleum product terminals located in Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin and Alabama, with a combined capacity of approximately 3.6 million barrels. For more information about Arc, visit the company's website at www.arcterminals.com.

About CN
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these forward-looking statements, including statements related to the growth of the crude oil transportation market, involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.  The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results or performance of the Company or the rail industry to be materially different from the outlook or any future results or performance implied by such statements. Important factors that could affect the above forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.

CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement.

SOURCE CN