Enterprise to build second LP gas export facility

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. plans to construct a new LP gas export terminal on the Gulf Coast. The facility will be capable of handling up to very large gas carrier (VLGC) class ships. Enterprise expects the initial loading rate for export grade propane or butane service to be about 11,000 barrels per hour, which would equate to about 6 million to 6.5 million barrels per month.

Following the completion of the site evaluation at potential locations in Louisiana and Texas, the new terminal is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2015. Upon completion, and following the expansion of Enterprise’s existing terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, Enterprise will have capacity to load up to 16 million barrels per month of low-ethane propane and butane at its LP gas marine terminals.

According to Enterprise, this new terminal will have separate, dedicated pipelines that supply LP gas from its fractionation and storage complex in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The complex includes more than 100 million barrels of salt dome storage capacity and, with the completion of an eighth fractionator in the fourth quarter of 2013, more than 650,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids (NGLs) fractionation capacity.

“The development of the new terminal was driven by continued demand from our international customers for additional supply of propane and butane,” says Michael Creel, CEO of Enterprise’s general partner, in a press release. “These facilities are supported by over 25 customers and associated long-term contracts, some of which extend into 2024. Just as with our other LPG export projects, we expect that the terminal will be operating at or near its capacity upon startup.”