Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP is expanding its Houston Ship Channel liquids storage and docking services. The expansion will include the purchase of 42 acres, building a ship dock to handle ocean-going vessels, and building 1.2 million bbl of liquids storage tanks.
KMEP entered into a letter of intent with a major ship-channel refiner to develop six 150,000-bbl tanks and four 75,000-bbl tanks with connectivity to its Galena Park terminal and the refiner. The property will provide dock services for as many as 8 vessels/month for the refinery and 4 vessels/month for KMEP’s terminal.
The company said the $170 million expansion will alleviate existing dock congestion among KMEP’s HSC terminals and provide additional export capacity. It will also be possible to add a second phase of storage tanks to the project in the future.
KMEP and BP North America last year executed agreements to provide BP condensate processing and storage at KMEP’s HSC terminals, including 750,000 bbl at Galena Park (OGJ Online, July 19, 2012). KMEP expects to have both the condensate splitter and storage covered by that agreement operating first-quarter 2014.
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].