US Permico Energia to build NGL pipeline to Gulf Coast

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Permico Energia plans to build a 510 mile (821km) pipeline from the Permian basin in west Texas to a new fractionator it will build near Corpus Christi, according to information obtained on Friday.

The pipeline, called Companero, will have an initial capacity of 300,000 bbl/day of natural gas liquids (NGLs), said Permico, a US-based midstream company.

The fractionator, called El Centro, will have a capacity of 300,000 bbl/day, Permico said.

Another pipeline will lead from the new fractionator and terminate at the US NGL hub in Mont Belvieu, Texas, Permico said. It will have a length of 230 miles, have a capacity of 250,000 bbl/day and have ethane and propane service.

The fractionator will have yet another pipeline, called Markham, that will have a length of 116 miles, have a capacity of 175,000 bbl/day and have ethane, propane and y-grade service, Permico said. This pipeline will terminate at the Markham storage facility.

Construction will start in the second quarter of 2018, and operations should start in the fourth quarter of 2020, the company said.

Permico is now negotiating long-term producer and industrial-partner contracts, according to a statement by Jeff Beicker, CEO of the subsidiary Texas Permico Partners.

Project funding has been secured through long-term commitments from South Korean pension fund, Permico said. Sumitomo Mitsui Bank was the lead syndicator for the senior-debt financing.

Senior-debt financing should close in Q1 2018, Permico said. All project equity has been committed.

“Permico’s new energy corridor will provide operating and cost advantages over the traditional Mont Belvieu options, which will enable us to provide reliable, economically superior solutions to the growing demands of our customer partners,” Beicker said.

NGLs are important to the US petrochemical industry because they make up the majority of the feedstock used in its crackers

Fractionators separate NGLs into ethane, propane and other individual products.