EPP’s expanding Midland-to-ECHO system 95% booked

The base 1.3-million b/d capacity of Enterprise Products Partners (EPP) expanded Midland-to-ECHO (M2E) pipeline system has been 95% contracted. M2E1 and M2E2 can carry more than 800,000 b/d from Midland to Sealy, Tex., with interconnection to the 1.3-million b/d Rancho II pipeline completing shipment to the Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) terminal.

EPP expects M2E3 to add 450,000 b/d by third-quarter 2020 and M2E4 another 450,000 b/d by first-half 2021. M2E4 is expandable to 540,000 b/d and M2E2 could convert back to NGL service, giving the complete system capacity flexibility between 1.3- and 1.8-million bbl depending on market demand.

The company has $8 billion invested in Permian basin expansion projects. In addition to the M2E pipeline additions, EPP is building a combined 2.4 million bbl of storage at Midland and ECHO.

NGL projects include the 300 MMcfd Mentone gas plant, scheduled for first-quarter 2020 completion and boosting EPP’s Permian plant capacity to more than 1.6 bcfd, supporting more than 250,000 b/d of NGL production. The company is also building Fractionators 10 and 11 at its Mont Belvieu, Tex., complex. Scheduled for completion in fourth-quarter 2019 and second-quarter 2020, respectively, they will add more than 300,000 b/d of fractionation, pushing EPP’s Mont Belvieu total beyond 1 million b/d.

EPP earlier partnered with Enbridge on its 2-million b/d deepwater Gulf of Mexico crude port (OGJ Online, Dec. 9, 2019). EPP expects construction to take roughly 2 years once regulatory approval has been granted. The company would build 50 miles of 36-in. OD onshore pipeline to connect existing supply to storage for the port. Twin 36-in. OD subsea pipelines would run roughly 30 nautical miles from storage to the offshore terminal with two sets of 30-in. OD lines connecting the manned platform to tankers.