Port of Corpus Christi approves $217 million bond package
The Port of Corpus Christi has approved a bond resolution authorizing the port to issue up to $217 million in revenue bonds to help finance major capital improvements, including the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The financing will allow the port to continue developing more terminals, rail and channel improvements needed to handle the burgeoning oil and gas volumes from the region's large energy- producing fields.
At the epicenter of the port's 10-year capital investment program is the deepening and widening of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Currently at a depth of 45 feet, the ship channel will be dredged to 54 feet to accommodate Suezmax and larger vessels, and widened to 530 feet to allow for two-way traffic flows, positioning the Port of Corpus Christi as the deepest draft navigation port in the U.S. Gulf.
For more information, visit www.portofcc.com or call (361) 882-5633.
Enterprise, Navigator begin construction on ethylene export terminal
Enterprise Products Partners LP and Navigator Holdings Ltd. have unveiled construction is now underway on their 50/50 joint venture ethylene export terminal, which will be located at Enterprise's Morgan's Point, Texas, facility on the Houston Ship Channel. The terminal will have the capacity to export approximately 2.2 billion pounds of ethylene per year. Refrigerated storage for 66 million pounds of ethylene is being constructed on-site and will provide the capability to load ethylene at rates of 2.2 million pounds per hour. Commercial operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019, one quarter earlier than previously projected.
By providing access to international markets, the new export terminal will facilitate continued growth of domestic ethylene production, which is expected to reach 90 billion pounds per year by 2021. In addition, the terminal being constructed by Enterprise and Navigator will promote supply diversification for expanding markets like Asia, which rely on cost-advantaged U.S. feedstocks.
For more information, visit www.enterpriseproducts.com or call (866) 230-0745.
Phillips 66 to expand fractionation capacity in Sweeny, Texas
Phillips 66 is proceeding with an expansion of the company's Sweeny Hub. This project includes the construction of two 150,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) natural gas liquids (NGLs) fractionators in Old Ocean, Texas, additional NGL storage capacity and associated pipeline infrastructure. The project is expected to cost up to $1.5 billion and begin commercial operations in late 2020.
"We are pleased to move forward with the Sweeny Hub expansion, a key part of our midstream growth strategy that further optimizes our integrated NGL value chain," said Greg Garland, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66. "The Sweeny Hub is strategically positioned to provide fractionation capacity for rapidly growing Permian Basin NGL production and access to U.S. Gulf Coast petrochemical, fuels and LPG export markets."
For more information, visit www.phillips66.com or call (832) 765-1016.
Caliche Development Partners to expand storage facility in Texas
Caliche Development Partners plans to expand its natural gas liquids (NGLs) salt dome cavern storage facility in Beaumont, Texas. The expansion will include a new 5-million-barrel cavern for ethane storage with up to 120,000 barrels per day of deliverability, as well as a 12-mile ethane header mirroring the path of Caliche's existing ethylene system. This header will cross five ethane pipelines connecting more than 50 percent of Gulf Coast ethane consumption with the Mont Belvieu, Texas, NGL complex. Caliche expects its previously announced ethylene cavern to be fully subscribed by its Sept. 30 in-service date and continues to respond to customer interest regarding additional cavern development.
When fully developed, Caliche's Coastal Caverns storage facility could provide up to 32 million barrels of purpose-built, salt cavern storage facilities.
For more information, visit www.calichestorage.com or call (832) 500-7590.