Louisiana confirms plans for $2.5bn crude export terminal project

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Tallgrass Energy and Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners are planning to build a crude oil export terminal on the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, the state’s economic development agency confirmed on Wednesday.

The proposed “Plaquemines Liquids Terminal”, with permitted crude oil storage of up to 20m bbl, could be fully operational by mid-2020, the agency said.

The terminal would be fed by a 800,000 bbl/day crude oi pipeline, announced earlier this month, from the Cushing oil hub in Oklahoma to Louisiana.

Tallgrass also plans an offshore pipeline extension to give the terminal project the added capability of loading very large crude carriers, the agency said.

The combined pipeline and terminal project require a capital investment of about $2.5bn, it added.

The project is planned as a public-private partnership, with multiple deepwater docks along the river to be furnished by the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District.

The docking facilities will provide terminal operators with the ability to load and unload the larger-capacity vessels now traversing the expanded Panama Canal, the agency said.

“Adding a project such as this to our crude oil facilities, our refineries and our growing LNG [liquefied natural gas] export network will further strengthen Louisiana’s position as a world energy export leader,” said Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards.

Additional reporting by Al Greenwood