Enterprise Products Partners L.P. announced that its 416-mile Midland-to-Sealy pipeline is now in full service with an expanded capacity of 540,000 barrels per day ("BPD") and capable of transporting batched grades of crude oil and condensate. With the completion of incremental tankage, as well as infrastructure and operating enhancements, the pipeline has an expected capacity of 575,000 BPD which is expected to come online in May and is fully subscribed under long-term contracts.
At its terminus in Sealy, Texas, the pipeline connects directly to Enterprise's 36-inch diameter Rancho II crude oil pipeline, which extends to the company's 7.4 million barrel ECHO crude oil terminal in southeast Houston. The completion of the Midland-to-ECHO pipeline system provides a fully integrated solution allowing Permian Basin producers to deliver multiple grades of crude oil all the way to the Gulf Coast, including West Texas Intermediate, Light West Texas Intermediate, West Texas Sour and Condensate.
Supporting Enterprise's Permian Basin solution is a strategic aggregation program that includes construction of a 143-mile pipeline system, which is expected to deliver more than 300,000 BPD of crude oil and condensate from the Delaware Basin into Enterprise's Midland Terminal. The project is on schedule for completion in July 2018 and is supported by long-term commitments with shippers.
"With crude oil production from the Permian Basin projected to grow by approximately 60 percent to more than 5 million BPD over the next four years, Enterprise's pipeline system from Midland to Houston provides customers with much needed flow assurance and market choices," said A.J. "Jim" Teague, chief executive officer of Enterprise's general partner. "From our ECHO terminal, customers can access the major Gulf Coast refineries in the Houston, Texas City and Beaumont/Port Arthur areas, which represent more than 4 million BPD of capacity, as well as Enterprise's extensive network of deepwater docks. As crude oil production continues to grow, access to the water has never been more important, and Enterprise is well positioned to facilitate the growing global demand for U.S. production."
Teague added, "In the process of expanding our crude oil services, maintaining product quality is of paramount importance. In that regard, both of our newly constructed pipelines are capable of transporting batched grades of crude oil and condensate, consistent with our quality assurance program and expectations of our producing and refining customers, both domestic and international."
