SAN ANTONIO, Texas, May 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) announced today that Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC (Tesoro) is upgrading its crude oil rail car fleet with the addition of 210 enhanced tank cars that exceed new safe transport standards issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on May 1.
Tesoro worked with Union Tank Car Company (UTLX) beginning in February of last year to develop a rail car expected to meet or exceed forthcoming regulations. UTLX, which is manufacturing the cars and leasing them to Tesoro, has substantially completed the first group of enhanced cars, which are expected to be in service this year once enough cars have been delivered to form a full unit train.
Tesoro and UTLX collaborated to modify the design of the DOT 120 – which is built according to pressure car standards – rather than to enhance the design of the CPC 1232 – which is built according to general service car standards.
“In building our crude oil rail car fleet, Tesoro has consistently chosen rail cars that are among the safest and most robust available at the time of order,” said Tesoro Executive Vice President of Operations Keith Casey. “Every time we’ve added to our fleet, it’s been with cars that offer additional safety enhancements.”
In February 2014, Tesoro was the first to announce a commitment to phase out legacy DOT 111 cars from its crude oil fleet, well in advance of federal regulations. This latest set of cars reaffirms the Company’s commitment to continually improve our fleet and lead the industry in the safe transport of crude oil via rail.
Tesoro’s new rail cars, which are classified as DOT 120s, have many of the same safety features as the new DOT 117 standard: 9/16-inch shell thickness; thermal protection; full-height head shields; high-flow pressure-relief valves; protected top fittings; and upgraded bottom outlet valves.
However, they offer additional safety features, including: a thicker tank head; protective housing for the manway; and two times the rated tank test pressure.
“Connecting domestically produced crude oil with U.S. refining centers by rail supports American jobs and enhances our energy security, but these benefits are null if it can’t be done safely and efficiently,” Casey said. “Industry partnerships like ours with UTLX, along with hard work from regulators and legislators including the Washington State congressional delegation, are helping to improve the safety of the system.”
Tesoro Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Tesoro, through its subsidiaries, operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of over 850,000 barrels per day and ownership in a logistics business which includes a 36 percent interest in Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP) and ownership of its general partner. Tesoro's retail-marketing system includes over 2,200 retail stations under the ARCO®, Shell®, Exxon®, Mobil®, USA Gasoline™ and Tesoro® brands.
This press release contains certain statements that are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 concerning the upgrading of Tesoro’s rail fleet, the expected timeline for entering service, the expected benefits and performance of the upgraded rail cars, the expected effectiveness of safety features, and the benefits of transporting North American crude oil via rail. For more information concerning factors that could affect these statements see our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to any such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or which we become aware of, after the date hereof.
Note to editors:
A fact sheet on the features of the enhanced DOT 120 rail car is available at www.tsocorp.com/TesoroDOT120.