Enterprise Products Partners to expand facility near Houston
January 9, 2018
Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) announced another facility expansion this week, just days after a previous announcement.
The latest expansion will be at the midstream giant’s butane isomerization facility at its complex in Mont Belvieu, east of Houston. The company is still evaluating two options, which would add up to 30,000 barrels per day of incremental capacity, according to a Jan. 8 press release.
“Butane isomerization is the process of converting normal butane into high-purity isobutane, which is used as a feedstock for the petrochemical and refining industries,” the press release states.
Currently, the Mont Belvieu facility has 116,000 barrels per day of butane isomerization capacity, and its isobutane system includes about 13 million barrels of storage capacity and 162 miles of distribution pipelines.
The planned expansion is supported by long-term agreements, including a 20-year, 35,000-barrel-per-day fee-based tolling agreement, per the release.
“Enterprise has been providing fee-based isomerization services since 1981,” A.J. “Jim” Teague, CEO of Enterprise’s general partner, said in the release. “We are pleased to announce these new long-term agreements to support another expansion of our facility. We have seen solid demand growth for high-purity isobutane by the petrochemical and refining industries. This expansion project is another example of organic growth generated by our integrated value chain serving both producers and consumers of NGLs, natural gas and crude oil.”
Last week, Enterprise announced another expansion of its cryogenic natural gas processing facility in Orla, Texas, in Reeves County. That expansion will add a third processing train to the complex.
Separately, the company announced in April plans for two ethylene projects around Mont Belvieu — a storage upgrade and a short pipeline.
Enterprise is the Houston area's sixth-largest public company, based on its $23 billion in 2016 revenue, according to Houston Business Journal research.