Houston midstream co. ships first export out of petrochemical terminal

Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) and London-based Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NVGS) have launched the first shipment from their new joint venture export terminal along the Houston Ship Channel.

The petrochemical export terminal loaded the Navigator Europa for the Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp., according to a press release. The new terminal was built at the Enterprise Morgan’s Point facility near Houston.

The companies started construction on the project in May 2018. The terminal has two docs and a loading capacity of 2.2 billion pounds of ethylene per year.

The partners are still working on an ethylene storage tank, which is set to complete in the fourth quarter.

The terminal is also connected to Enterprise’s complex in Mont Belvieu, which Enterprise says it has designed as an ethylene storage and trading hub.

A glut of natural gas from the rapid increase in production during the past decade has given the U.S. and abundance of ethylene, Enterprise CEO Jim Teague said in the press release. That means there’s plenty of material ready for export.

“Including a second wave of new petrochemical plants now being developed, production of ethylene is poised for continued growth,” Teague said.

Enterprise is also working on two pipeline projects meant to extend the reach of the company’s ethylene network into Markham, Texas, according to the release. Both of those projects are supposed to enter service in the fourth quarter.

In September, Enterprise reached a deal with LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE: LYB) supporting a new propane dehydrogenation asset at Enterprise’s Mont Belvieu plant.

Enterprise produced $36.5 billion in 2018 revenue, according to the company’s most recent annual report. Of that, $4.24 billion was net income.

By: Joshua Mann – Senior Reporter

Courtesy of Houston Business Journal

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2020/01/09/houston-midstream-co-ships-first-export-out-of.html