HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) today announced that the process of injecting ethane into the Appalachia-to-Texas Express (“ATEX”) pipeline began in late November and will continue throughout December 2013. Commercial service is expected to begin in January 2014.
The 1,230-mile ATEX pipeline originates in Washington County, Pennsylvania and is, or will be, connected to four fractionators in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region. These plants include the MarkWest Houston plant in Pennsylvania and Cadiz plant in Ohio, the Blue Racer Natrium plant in West Virginia and the Utica East Ohio Scio plant in Ohio. ATEX will have an initial capacity of 125,000 barrels per day (“BPD”), expandable to at least 265,000 BPD. The project is supported by firm, ship-or-pay transportation agreements with 15-year terms. Approximately 65,000 BPD of those contracted volumes are expected to be transported initially, ramping up to more than 130,000 BPD beginning in 2018.
ATEX terminates at Enterprise’s Mont Belvieu, Texas complex which includes over 100 million barrels of natural gas liquid (“NGL”) and petroleum liquid storage capacity, more than 750,000 BPD of fractionation capacity and an extensive NGL distribution system. With the addition of its Aegis ethane pipeline now under construction, Enterprise will link Marcellus-produced ethane to every existing ethylene production facility in the U.S. and provide supply security to support construction of new crackers currently planned for the Gulf Coast. In addition, Enterprise’s distribution system supplies the partnership’s LPG export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel and a second export terminal that is under development, which could ultimately provide U.S.-produced ethane to international markets.
“The ATEX project provides producers in the rapidly growing Marcellus/Utica region with the critical ethane takeaway capacity that is needed now to allow them to continue developing their reserves, as well as gain access to the largest NGL market in the U.S.,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise’s general partner. “With its expandability and eventual accessibility to our ethane header system, ATEX will supply petrochemical operators from Corpus Christi, Texas to the Mississippi River corridor in Louisiana with reliable sources of NGL feedstock, which continues to be cost advantaged compared to crude oil-based derivatives.”
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Our services include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage and import and export terminals (including liquefied petroleum gas or LPG); crude oil and refined products transportation, storage and terminals; offshore production platforms; petrochemical transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. The partnership’s assets include approximately 51,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 200 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity. Additional information regarding Enterprise can be found on its website, www.enterpriseproducts.com.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein that address activities, events, developments or transactions that Enterprise expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including anticipated benefits and other aspects of such activities, events, developments or transactions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including required approvals by regulatory agencies, the possibility that the anticipated benefits from such activities, events, developments or transactions cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or difficulties related thereto will be greater than expected, the impact of competition and other risk factors included in the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Enterprise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Except as required by law, Enterprise does not intend to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
