Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), Houston, is considering a potential curtailment of NGL fractionation and storage services at its complex in Mont Belvieu, Tex., in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey.
While EPP sustained minor damage to its assets on the US Gulf Coast, cumulative effects of storm impacts in the region have prompted the partnership’s evaluation of reducing operations at Mont Belvieu, the operator said.
Impacts from the storm—including, but not limited to, flooding, constrained access to facilities, and limitations on critical services provided by third parties, such as nitrogen supply—have been exacerbated both by associated disruptions to regional refining and petrochemical operations as well by the ongoing closure of Texas Gulf Coast ports, which is limiting access to export markets, EPP said.
Collectively, these storm impacts already have resulted in brine-containment issues and reduced fractionation capacity at the Mont Belvieu complex (OGJ Online, Aug. 29, 2017).
The operator did not disclose details regarding when it will make a decision regarding the possible curtailment or the degree to which the curtailment, if initiated, would impact operations at the site.
EPP’s Mont Belvieu NGL complex has 130 million bbl of underground storage capacity and 670,000 b/d of NGL fractionation capability. The firm is building a ninth fractionator at Mont Belvieu that will increase NGL fractionation capacity by 85,000 b/d following its scheduled completion in second-quarter 2018 (OGJ Online, Apr. 10, 2017).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
