Shell Trading to anchor Mariner South LP gas export project

Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. and Lone Star NGL LLC announced that long-term, fee-based agreements have been executed with Shell Trading Co. to move forward with a liquefied petroleum gas export/import project. Shell has committed to the project, known as Mariner South, as an anchor customer.

The Mariner South project will integrate Sunoco’s existing Nederland Marine Terminal and pipeline from Mont Belvieu, Texas to Nederland, Texas, with Lone Star’s Mont Belvieu fractionation and storage facilities, creating a large-scale LP gas export/import operation in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Mariner South will have an initial capacity of 6 million barrels per month and will be designed to load LP gas carriers with an approximate capacity of 550,000 barrels. The Mariner South project is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2015.

The project will utilize Lone Star’s increasing fractionation capacity at Mont Belvieu as well as construction of a new 100,000-barrel-per-day de-ethanizer to convert propane to international specifications. It also will involve the construction of new refrigerated storage tanks located at the Nederland Terminal to take deliveries into the LP gas vessels. The Nederland Terminal will provide 24-hour ship access in the Gulf Coast with a load rate of up to 30,000 barrels per hour. The terminal facility includes existing docks and acreage for future expansion. The project can be expanded to handle additional volumes of products.

“The development of this Gulf Coast LPG operation is in response to continued growth in North American NGL production and international demand for LPG supplies,” says Steve Spaulding, executive vice president of Lone Star NGL, in a press release.