Partners equal strength with industries

June 18, 2025

Partnership was a central theme at the Mont Belvieu Area Chamber of Commerce’s State of Industry. Multiple representatives from area industries shared how a team effort has paid off into success for them and the people they serve. 

Ten representatives from ExxonMobil Mont Belvieu Plastics Plant, Enterprise Products, Turner Industries, Summit Industrial, ONEOK, Vortech Consulting, Energy Transfer, Targa Resources, Gallant and TALKE USA gathered Tuesday to provide updates on what is happening with their business and how it is affecting folks in the area. 

Macie Schubert, Mont Belvieu Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said Mont Belvieu is home to some of the largest industrial corporations in the world. 

“So, it is really exciting, not just the growth, but the way that large industry truly supports the community, gives back and connects with small businesses,” she said. “This is why we do what we do here today.”

Bradley Armstrong, Senior Manager of Operations for Energy Transfer, said his company starts with fractionation. 

“We’ve got eight total fractionators that total 1.15 million barrels per day,” Armstrong said. “That equates to over 48.3 million gallons.”

Armstrong said this year, Energy Transfer’s ninth fractionator is slated to go into service in December 2026. 

“And that’ll add another 165,000 barrels per day coming through Mont Belvieu,” Armstrong said. “So, that product has to go somewhere. And that’s where the storage terminals come in.”

Armstrong said they have 27 underground storage caverns located in Mont Belvieu that total more than 63 million barrels of capacity. They also have direct pipeline connectivity to other Energy Transfer assets that allow them to export their product from Mont Belvieu to other countries and facilities. In addition, they also have 80 pipeline connections to different facilities and industries including the Houston Ship Channel.

Energy Transfer currently has two underground storage caverns currently under construction. 

“Those are expected to go into service within the next couple of years and that’ll add another 6 million barrels of capacity for energy transfer and model,” Armstrong said. 

Armstrong also highlighted his company’s volunteers, saying they put in about 3,900 volunteer hours in 2023.

“And I promise that number is going to continue to increase year over year,” he said. 

Armstrong thanked Vortech for their partnership and the support they provide for their facilities and in the community, including the employees. 

“What you do is not easy. We appreciate it,” Armstrong said. “We’re very proud to have a partner that shares the same goals.”

Steve Abalos, Vortech’s chief financial officer, thanked Armstrong.

“It is great to have such a warm relationship and partnership with Energy Transfer,” Abalos said. 

Abalos said it was important to recognize the employees committed to taking care of their clients every day. 

“I can tell you, our clients are extremely important to us,” Abalos said. “We’re helping around 50 the last few years as you can see, and we had anywhere from 700 to 800 projects that we handled consistently year after year. I’m very proud of that number, so I wanted to share.”

Abalos highlighted Vortech’s safety record. 

“We’re proud of our (Total Recordable Injuries),” he said. “It takes a focused group of employees who listen to the Job Hazard Analysis every day and adhere to our safety requirements. Being committed to safety is our tagline and we try to live that every day.”

Abalos thanked Natalie Degler with Enterprise Products, the main sponsor for the luncheon, and the Chamber for having him there to engage with industry partners. 

Degler spoke saying, Enterprise Products is a fully integrated midstream energy company. Their platform includes NGLs, crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals and refined products. They have 50,000-plus miles of pipeline, 300+ millions of barrels of oil in liquid storage, 20 Deepwater docks, 42 natural gas processing trains, 26 fractionators, two propane dehydrogenation plants and two isobutane dehydrogenation plants. 

Degler said Turner Industries was a large partner with Enterprise’s maintenance department. 

Enterprises current project is Frac 14, a fractionator that is expected to be complete later this year. 

“Even with market volatility, Enterprise continues to have strong growth with a continued positive outlook,” Degler said. 

Degler added that she is very proud of her company’s partnership with the community, a partnership that has been in place since 1999. 

“I love this community,” she said. 

Degler said Enterprise has always held a strong commitment to the local community. She said they proudly support the Mont Belvieu Chamber, the Fall Fest, the Chambers County Children’s Museum, the local Relay for Life, the FLIGHT Academy with Barbers Hill and Habitat for Humanity. 

Travis Osborn with Turner Industries said they offer multiple services.

“But we also have the construction element, the specialty services, shutdowns/turnarounds/outages, maintenance, construction, welding and modular fabrication.

Osborn added that Turner Industries also likes to take any chance it can to support the community.

“We want to be a responsible member of the communities where our employees live and work and where our clients operate,” he said. 

Turner has helped the Houston Food Bank, the United Way of Greater Baytown Area and Chambers County, and the Relay for Life.

Osborn said Enterprise was a great partner. 

“Like (Degler) mentioned, we have almost 200 people here on a daily basis performing maintenance,” he said. “But also, we have anywhere between 25 to 100 in-and-out employees.”

This is the first of a two-part story. Read the rest in a future edition of The Baytown Sun.