Enterprise to expand in Ship Channel, boost crude export capacity

Houston’s Enterprise Products Partners said Monday it will greatly expand its Houston Ship Channel terminals to export more crude oil, propane, butane and petrochemicals around the world.

Enterprise said it is concentrating the expansion at its Houston Ship Channel terminal south of Channelview, including the construction of an eighth dock to increase its crude oil exporting capacity by 840,000 barrels a day, a jump of nearly 45 percent.

Enterprise also will expand its liquefied petroleum gas export capacity — primarily butane and propane — and add new refrigeration storage capacity so it can ship out more propylene, which is the primary petrochemical building block of many plastics.

Enterprise would not disclose the estimated costs.

This is all part of an ongoing build out of Enterprise’s pipeline, storage, processing and exporting network that has rapidly expanded since the advent of the Texas shale boom. Enterprise recently built massive crude oil and natural gas liquids pipelines stretching almost 500 miles each from West Texas’ Permian Basin to the Houston area.

“Our integrated midstream system, including our Houston Ship Channel terminal, is providing Texas products with access to the highest value markets, including international markets,” said Enterprise Chief Executive Jim Teague.

The United States exports close to 3 million barrels of crude oil per day, but Enterprise projects oil shipments will rise to 8 million barrels a day by 2025. Much of that oil would continue to come from the Permian Basin. The nation is producing record amounts of crude, topping 12 million barrels of oil a day.

The pipeline, processing and exporting firm is the second-largest company headquartered in Houston by Wall Street value, behind only ConocoPhillips. Enterprise also has rapidly expanded its storage and processing hub in Mont Belvieu and plans to build an offshore oil exporting terminal off the Texas Gulf Coast to accommodate the largest crude oil tankers from around the world.

The Houston Ship Channel expansion would increase Enterprises’ crude exporting capacity to 2.75 million barrels daily. The new dock will be able to accommodate Suezmax vessels, the largest ship class that can navigate the Houston Ship Channel. A Suezmax tanker can carry close to 1 million barrels of oil.

Enterprise also will add 260,000 barrels a day of new liquefied petroleum gas export capacity, increasing its total LPG export capacity to 1.1 million barrels a day from the ship channel. Lastly, Enterprise will build 67,200 barrels per day of additional propylene export capacity.

All of the new expansions are expected to be completed by late 2020.