Enterprise expands LPG capacity at Houston Ship Channel Terminal
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. today announced that construction is under way to increase loading capacity for liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”), primarily propane and butane, at the Enterprise Hydrocarbon Terminal (“EHT”) by 175,000 barrels per day (“BPD”), or approximately 5 million barrels per month. The expansion will bring total LPG export capacity at EHT to 720,000 BPD, or approximately 21 million barrels per month.
Upon completion of this expansion project, EHT will have the capability to load as many as six Very Large Gas Carrier (“VLGC”) vessels simultaneously, while maintaining the option to switch between propane and butane loadings. Once operational, the expansion will allow EHT to load a single VLGC in less than 24 hours, creating greater efficiencies and cost savings for customers. The incremental capacity is expected to be available in the second half of 2019.
“Enterprise is already the largest exporter of propane in the world and this expansion project will increase our ability to export LPGs from the EHT facility by another 30 percent with nominal capital investment,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, chief executive officer of Enterprise’s general partner. “Domestic production of hydrocarbons continues to exceed expectations and U.S. demand. U.S. LPG production currently exceeds U.S. demand by over one million barrels per day and domestic export terminals are approaching full utilization. We estimate that U.S. LPG production could increase by up to an additional 1.5 million barrels per day by 2025. Without access to international markets, excess LPG supplies would lead to a curtailment in U.S. crude oil and natural gas production growth. Marine terminal expansions like ours will be essential to balancing the market and meeting growing global demand for U.S. hydrocarbons.”
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Enterprise Products services include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage and import and export terminals; crude oil gathering, transportation, storage and terminals; petrochemical and refined products transportation, storage and terminals; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems. The partnership’s assets include approximately 50,000 miles of pipelines; 260 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.