Phillips 66 commissions Sweeny NGL fractionator

Dec. 8, 2015
Phillips 66 Co. has commissioned a 100,000-b/d NGL fractionator near its 247,000-b/d Sweeny refinery in Old Ocean, Tex.

Phillips 66 Co. has commissioned a 100,000-b/d NGL fractionator near its 247,000-b/d Sweeny refinery in Old Ocean, Tex. (OGJ Online, Apr. 15, 2015).

Supported by 250 miles of pipelines and a multimillion-barrel storage cavern complex, Sweeny Fractionator One is now producing purity ethane and LPGs that deliver via pipeline to local petrochemical customers as well as to the market hub at Mont Belvieu, Tex., Phillips 66 said.

The company said it expects to begin LPG deliveries to international markets once it completes the 150,000-b/d LPG export terminal at Phillips 66’s existing marine terminal in Freeport, Tex.

The Freeport LPG export terminal, which will have an initial export capacity of 4.4 million bbl/month, remains on schedule for startup during second-half 2016, Phillips 66 said.

At a combined capital investment of more than $3 billion, Sweeny Fractionator One and the Freeport LPG export terminal will connect to a 100,000-b/d de-ethanizer unit to be installed at the Old Ocean site that will upgrade US propane for export (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2014).

Phillips 66 already has secured long-term, fee-based commitments for the use of Sweeny Fractionator One and the export terminal, the company confirmed earlier this year.

Despite an October announcement that it would lower its 2016 capital budget by $1 billion from 2015 (OGJ Online, Oct. 12, 2015), Phillips 66 continues to evaluate additional midstream capacity expansions.

“We plan to add more capacity in the future to supply our customers LPGs based on affordable North American NGLs,” said Bob Herman, executive vice-president for Phillips 66’s midstream division.

While further details regarding future projects were not disclosed, the company previously planned to build a 110,000-b/d Sweeny Fractionator Two, which if approved, would have been scheduled for startup in 2017 (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2014).

In response to market conditions as a result of lower global crude oil prices, however, the company said earlier in the year that it would delay timing of investment decisions on a series of second-phase midstream projects in Texas, including the second Sweeny fractionator (OGJ, June 1, 2015, p. 70).

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].