CBF NGL plant to be expanded at Mont Belvieu
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 28 -- Targa Resources Partners LP, Houston, plans to expand capacity of its majority-owned Cedar Bayou Fractionators LP (CBF) natural gas liquids fractionation facility at nearby Mont Belvieu, Tex.
The maximum gross fractionation capacity of the facility is to be expanded by 60,000 b/d to 275,000 b/d, increasing the partnership's maximum gross NGL fractionation capacity along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast to 439,000 b/d.
The CBF expansion is to be supported by a long-term firm space fractionation agreement at market-based fees with Oneok Partners LP. CBF and Oneok executed a letter of intent with completion of final documentation and board approvals expected in the near future.
The expansion will increase Targa Resources’ fee-based percentage of operating income, said Rene Joyce, chief executive of the partnership's general partner and of Targa Resources.
The expansion should be operational in the first quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approvals, with no disruption of existing operations during construction. Total cost for the expansion will be significantly lower than a greenfield fractionation facility because the new capacity will be integrated with existing fractionation capacity, utilities, infrastructure, and footprint at Mont Belvieu.
The partnership's total capital expenditures for 2010 are budgeted for $130 million with maintenance capital expenditures accounting for 25%. Expected expenditures include the CBF fractionation expansion as well as other projects in its gas gathering and processing and NGL logistics and marketing businesses. The 2010 capital expenditure forecast does not include “growth opportunities under development that are uncertain with respect to timing and other factors,” officials said.
