Enterprise and Navigator Gas to Develop Ethylene Marine Export Terminal
13 July 2017 - 7:32AM
Business Wire
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) and Navigator
Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NVGS) today announced the execution of a
letter of intent to jointly develop an ethylene marine export
terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. Enterprise would manage the
construction, operations and commercial activities of the proposed
terminal, which would be located at Enterprise’s Morgan’s Point
complex. Enterprise’s Morgan’s Point facility has a 45-foot draft
and includes Enterprise’s ethane marine export terminal, the
world’s largest. Navigator Gas has extensive experience with
ethylene shipping through its fleet of 14 ethylene-capable vessels
that provide a virtual pipeline to deliver ethylene to consuming
customers.
The ethylene export terminal would be connected to Enterprise’s
high-capacity ethylene salt dome storage and ethylene pipeline
system, which is currently under construction. Enterprise’s
ethylene storage facility will have approximately 600 million
pounds of capacity with an injection/withdrawal rate of 210,000
pounds per hour expandable to 420,000 pounds per hour. Enterprise’s
ethylene pipeline system will be connected to multiple producers
and consumers of ethylene on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The U.S. petrochemical industry is expanding its ethylene
production capacity by 45 percent between 2016 and 2020, based on
currently announced projects. These expansions are driven by
plentiful, low-cost supplies of natural gas and ethane as a result
of the development of U.S. shale reserves. Almost 90 percent of
these expansions are at facilities located along the Texas and
Louisiana Gulf Coast. Enterprise’s ethylene storage and pipeline
system, together with the proposed ethylene export terminal, would
provide the petrochemical industry with logistical flexibility and
an outlet to international markets.
“We are very pleased to work with Navigator Gas in efforts to
commercialize an industry leading ethylene marine export terminal
on the Houston Ship Channel with unsurpassed connectivity to
ethylene producers and pipeline and storage infrastructure,” said
A.J. “Jim” Teague, chief executive officer of the general partner
of Enterprise. “Customers would have the ability to manage the
transportation and storage of ethylene supplies from the tailgate
of producing facilities to domestic and international consuming
derivative plants. The proposed ethylene export terminal would
provide U.S. petrochemical companies critical market
diversification rather than relying solely on polyethylene export
markets.”
“A strategically located ethylene export terminal is the key to
unlocking growing petrochemical production capacity in the U.S. We
are proud to work with Enterprise, with their proven commercial
and technical capabilities, on a project that promises to meet
the needs of our customers and provides the seamless transportation
of ethylene from the producer to the customer,” commented David
Butters, chief executive officer of Navigator Gas.
Formation of the 50/50 joint venture to build, own and operate
the ethylene marine export terminal is subject to the negotiation
and execution of definitive agreements and approval by the
respective boards of directors of Enterprise and Navigator
Holdings. The commercialization of the project is subject to
sufficient long-term customer commitments.
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’s services include: natural gas gathering, treating,
processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation,
fractionation, storage, and export and import terminals; crude oil
gathering, transportation, storage, export 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.
Navigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the
world’s largest combined fleet of handysize and midsize liquefied
gas carriers, including the largest fleet of ethylene vessels, by
tonnage. Navigator Holdings provides international and regional
seaborne transportation services of ethylene, ethane, LPG,
petrochemical gases and ammonia for energy companies, industrial
users and commodity traders. Navigator Holdings’s fleet of 38
vessels, 14 of which are the largest ethylene and ethane-capable
liquefied gas carriers available in the market, enables
cost-effective and efficient long-haul transportation of ethylene
for our customers.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” as
defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, included herein that
address activities, events, developments or transactions that
Enterprise and its general partner and/or Navigator Gas expect,
believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from expectations, including required approvals
by regulatory agencies, the possibility that the anticipated
benefits from such activities, events, developments or transactions
cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or
difficulties related thereto will be greater than expected, the
impact of competition, and other risk factors included in
Enterprise’s and Navigator Gas’s respective reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of their dates. Except as required by law, neither
Enterprise nor Navigator Gas intends to update or revise their
respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170712006346/en/
Enterprise Contacts:Investor RelationsRandy Burkhalter,
713-381-6812 or 866-230-0745orMedia RelationsRick Rainey,
713-381-3635orNavigator Gas Contacts:Oeyvind Lindeman, +44
(0)207340 4575Chief Commercial OfficerorKim Davies, +44 (0)207340
0687Head of Corporate Development
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