With access to rail and existing marine infrastructure, the Port of Vancouver can serve as a hub for the distribution of North American crude oil to West Coast refining centers, the partners said. Tesoro and Savage have already operated in close partnership for almost ten years on the West Coast.

Building upon the recent success of the rail unloading facility at our Anacortes, Wash., refinery, where we have been delivering Mid-Continent crude oil via unit train in an environmentally sound and cost-effective manner, this project is the ideal next step for Tesoro as we drive additional feedstock cost advantage to the remaining refineries in our West Coast system.

—Greg Goff, President and CEO of Tesoro

The Tesoro-Savage Joint Venture will own the crude unloading and marine loading facilities and will enter into a land lease agreement with the Port for an initial period of ten years. Savage will oversee and manage the design, construction and operation of the facility on the Joint Venture’s behalf. The facility is expected to be operational in 2014 and will represent an investment of approximately $75 to $100 million, and will be designed to handle an estimated initial volume of 120,000 bpd with potential near-term expansion capability to 280,000 bpd.

Tesoro Corporation, a Fortune 150 company, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Tesoro, through its subsidiaries, operates seven refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of approximately 675,000 barrels per day.

Savage creates and delivers bundled supply chain management services that are tailored to meet the needs of customers. Savage serves many industries including: electric power generation, coal production, oil and gas, refining, agriculture, chemical, mining and manufacturing.