Enterprise Products Partners LP plans to develop a crude oil export terminal off the Texas Gulf Coast. The terminal would be capable of fully loading very large crude carriers with capacities of about 2 million bbl. Enterprise has started front-end engineering and design and preparing applications for regulatory permitting.
Based on initial designs, the project could include roughly 80 miles of 42-in. OD pipeline to an offshore terminal capable of loading and exporting crude oil at about 85,000 bbl/hr.
Enterprise July 17 completed the second partial loading of a VLCC at its jointly owned (with Enbridge Inc.) Seaway marine terminal in Texas City. The EagleVictoria loaded about 1.1 million bbl of crude oil at the terminal, with the balance loaded offshore in a lightering zone. Enterprise loaded a similar amount of crude June 22-24 onto the FPMC C Melody, chartered by Vitol Inc.
The Texas City terminal features two docks, a 45-ft draft, an overall length of 1,125 ft, a 220-ft beam, and can load crude at a rate of 35,000 bbl/hr.
Enterprise said it’s crude oil supply aggregation capabilities of more than 4 million b/d—from the Permian basin, Cushing hub, Eagle Ford shale, and numerous third-party connections—provide it with “unmatched diversification, supply, and quality optionality for international markets.”