Liquids terminaling and logistics company Moda Midstream, LLC is making plans to sell to Canadian pipeline giant, Enbridge Inc., for $3 billion to add U.S. Gulf Coast oil export capacity.
Enbridge is buying Moda for cash from EnCap Flatrock Midstream (EFM), the company said in a news release.
The deal will connect Enbridge with oil produced in the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins. It also includes Moda's Ingleside Energy Center (MIEC), near Corpus Christi, Texas, North America’s largest crude export terminal, which loaded 25% of all U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports last year.
MIEC’s proximity to open water combined with its very large crude carrier (VLCC) capability and rapid loading rates position it globally as one of the most important export facilities in the world, Moda said. "MIEC provides customers an unparalleled advantage due to its wellhead-to-water access and direct connectivity to next-generation long-haul crude pipelines, including Cactus I, Cactus II, Gray Oak, EPIC and the Harvest Ingleside pipeline," the company said.
Other assets included in the transaction are Moda’s Taft Terminal located near MIEC; a minority, non-operating interest in the Cactus II Pipeline; a 100 percent interest in Moda’s Viola Pipeline; and Moda’s St. James Development Project, a brownfield joint-development opportunity to build independent third-party logistics solutions for customers in the St. James, Louisiana, area. Both the Cactus II and Viola pipelines connect to MIEC.
Moda Executive VP and Founder Javier del Olmo will join Enbridge as vice president, USGC Terminaling Operations. Key Moda personnel and the entire MIEC team will join del Olmo at Enbridge as the core of the new USGC Terminaling team in Enbridge’s Liquids Pipelines business unit. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.
Moda and EFM will retain ownership in Vopak Moda Houston, a world-class deepwater storage and terminaling facility in the Port of Houston, the number one port in the United States in terms of total waterborne tonnage and home to the nation’s largest and world’s second-largest petrochemical complex. Vopak Moda Houston is the first greenfield terminal development in the port in more than a decade and will serve as a vital growth platform for its joint-venture partners, Royal Vopak and Moda Midstream.
Vopak Moda Houston recently commissioned its deepwater dock and has constructed storage and terminaling infrastructure for its industrial gas product line.
"Moda’s success in Houston is a testament to the determination and hard work across the organization since the formation of Vopak Moda Houston," the company said. "Moda is confident the team will continue to provide new innovative liquids supply chain solutions and support for customers’ energy transition logistics needs by capitalizing on Vopak Moda Houston’s strong foundation and ideal location."
