Enterprise completes two US Gulf Coast projects

Enterprise Products is expanding its Houston-area operations with work on its LPG export terminal, an ethane pipeline and plans to export its first load of US crude oil from the Houston Ship Channel in January. (Image: Houston Port Authority)

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Enterprise Products has completed the final phase of an expansion of its Houston-area liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) export terminal, and it has completed the final segment of a Gulf Coast ethane pipeline, the US midstream energy firm said on Wednesday.

The expansion of the LPG export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel raised the hourly loading rate to 27,500 barrels, from 16,500 barrels.

The capacity increase was achieved through a new refrigeration train that increases loading capabilities at the terminal from 9m bbl/month to 16m bbl/month of LPG – or a total of about 29 vessels per month, Enterprise said. 

“This terminal serves as the premier LPG export facility in the US and the timing of these expansion projects could not have been better,” said AJ Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise’s general partner.

“In addition to meeting the growing international demand for price-advantaged, domestic LPG, the terminal also benefits producers by providing market access and facilitating continued development of US energy supplies,” he said.

Meanwhile, Enterprise also completed construction and initiated operation of the remaining 162-mile portion of the Aegis ethane pipeline from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to the Napoleonville area in Louisiana.

The 270-mile, 20-inch diameter Aegis system originates at the Mont Belvieu natural gas liquids (NGL) hub in Texas. Combined with Enterprise’s existing south Texas pipeline network, Aegis is part of an ethane header system that can serve more than 20 petrochemical facilities along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The Aegis pipeline project received strong shipper interest, with customers having executed contracts totaling 360,000 bbl/day that will ramp up over the next four years. With additional pumps, the pipeline will have the capacity to transport about 400,000 bbl/day of ethane, Enterprise said.

“The Aegis system provides price-advantaged ethane feedstock and supply flexibility for the expanding network of petrochemical facilities along a 500-mile corridor between Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Mississippi river,” Teague added.

“These facilities are expected to represent more than 90% of domestic ethylene capacity within the next five years,” he said.

In related news, Enterprise announced last week that it will provide pipeline and marine terminal services on the Houston Ship Channel to load its first export of crude oil after the US removed the nation’s ban on crude exports.

The 600,000-barrel cargo of domestic light crude oil is scheduled to load at the Enterprise Hydrocarbon Terminal (EHT) during the first week of January.