Canada's CN Rail to build $50 mln plant for oilsands bitumen pucks production

Canadian National Railway Co. (CN Rail) announced that it is planning to construct a pilot facility worth up to $50 million next year to create pucks made of oilsands bitumen.

CN Rail said that it is in talks with the Alberta and federal governments, along with potential oilsands industry partners and the Heart Lake First Nation of northern Alberta, to finance the 10,000-barrel-per-day pilot plant.

If the plant succeeds, the company will construct a commercial-sized plant with the capacity to convert up to 50,000 barrels per day of heavy crude into pucks.

Canadian National Railway intends to install a diluent recovery facility alongside the commercial CanaPux plant to recover the valuable diluent for resale.