Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP) has started operations at its expanded Houston Ship Channel LPG export terminal, increasing its ability to load fully refrigereated propane, butane, and isobutene onto ocean-going vessels.

Rising demand has prompted owners to order more and larger LPG vessels, according to Drewry Maritime Research. LPG demand has been improved by a growing consumption base in emerging economies, with supply bolstered by an expected emergence of new export sources, notably the US and the Russia.

KW Express LLC, a partnership of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Watco Cos. LLC, has agreed with Mercuria Energy Trading Co. Inc. to build a 210,000 b/d crude oil rail and barge terminal at the Greens Port Industrial Park on the Houston Ship Channel.

Gazprom and Summa Group have signed a memorandum of understanding indicating their intent to use LNG as a bunker fuel for marine vessels, including those owned and operated by Summa Group, an engineering, construction, and logistics conglomerate based in Moscow.

Energy Transfer Partners LP has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sunoco Inc. in a unit and cash transaction valued at $5.3 billion.

Oil production began Feb. 25 from Cascade deepwater field into the Gulf of Mexico’s first floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, said operator Petrobras America Inc.