Enterprise Begins Service for Texas NGL Fractionator and PDH 2 Plant
Image courtesy of Enterprise.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (“Enterprise”) announced on Aug. 1 the start of service at its 12th natural gas liquids (“NGL”) fractionator and its second propane dehydrogenation (“PDH”) plant (“PDH 2”) in Chambers County, Texas.
Supported by long-term customer agreements, the new facility increases Enterprise’s NGL fractionation capacity to 1.2 million BPD at the Chambers County complex. Companywide, Enterprise now has approximately 1.7 million BPD of NGL fractionation capacity. The new fractionator is among $3.8 billion of major growth projects beginning service in 2023.
“The addition of our newest fractionator is being driven by growing domestic NGL production in the Permian Basin as new natural gas processing plants are brought online,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, co-chief executive officer of Enterprise’s general partner. “We recently began service at our sixth gas processing plant in the Midland Basin, with three other Permian Basin gas plants expected to come online by the end of the first quarter of 2024. On the demand side, the additional volumes will provide much-needed feedstocks for the petrochemical and refining industries, as well as products such as cleaner-burning, reliable propane for export to developing nations globally.”
Also underwritten by long-term, fee-based contracts, PDH 2 has the capacity to consume 35,000 barrels per day (“BPD”) of propane to produce 1.65 billion pounds of polymer grade propylene (“PGP”) per year. Combined with Enterprise’s existing PDH 1 plant, the company can consume 70,000 BPD of propane to produce 3.3 billion pounds per year of PGP at its Chambers County complex.
“Propylene is the basic building block used to produce virtually all durable products and, as one of the main pillars of modern civilization, is essential to human survival and improved quality of life,” said Teague. “PDH 2 will provide abundant and cost-advantaged shale-based, on-purpose production to supply our petrochemical customers with the feedstock to produce products that meet the needs of a growing global population. Our newest PDH plant is among $3.8 billion of major growth projects that we announced would begin service and generate new sources of cash flow by the end of 2023.”
Companywide, Enterprise now has the capacity to produce 11 billion pounds of propylene per year. In addition, the new PDH 2 facility is integrated with the company’s propylene system that includes more than 1,000 miles of high-capacity pipelines, over 3 billion pounds of storage capacity, and ability to export approximately 4 billion pounds per year. By providing access to centrally located market hubs, the company’s propylene infrastructure network gives customers the capability to balance supply and demand, thereby facilitating improved utilization of Enterprise assets.
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. Services include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage and marine terminals; crude oil gathering, transportation, storage and marine terminals; petrochemical and refined products production, transportation, storage, and marine terminals and related services; and a marine transportation business that operates on key U.S. inland and intracoastal waterway systems. The partnership’s assets include more than 50,000 miles of pipelines; over 260 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.