Enterprise and Navigator Gas to Build Ethylene Export Terminal
HOUSTON & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) and Navigator Holdings
Ltd. (NYSE: NVGS) announced today that they have entered into a 50/50
joint venture to build a new ethylene export facility along the U.S.
Gulf Coast that will have the capacity to export approximately 1 million
tons of ethylene per year. Refrigerated storage for 30,000 tons of
ethylene will be constructed on-site and will provide the capability to
load ethylene at rates of 1,000 tons per hour. The facilities are
expected to be in service by the first quarter of 2020. The project is
supported by long-term contracts with anchor customers that include U.S.
ethylene producer Flint Hills Resources and a major Japanese trading
company.
“This new ethylene export terminal will support the growing production
of ethylene on the U.S. Gulf Coast by providing access to international
markets,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, chief executive officer of
Enterprise’s general partner. “By 2021, the petrochemical industry is
expected to expand aggregate ethylene production capacity in Texas and
Louisiana by nearly 50 percent to approximately 90 billion pounds per
year. The resulting rapid growth in the supply of U.S. ethylene,
combined with increased demand from international markets, like Asia,
creates an ideal scenario in which markets abroad are able to diversify
their supply by accessing cost-advantaged feedstocks made possible by
the shale revolution in the United States. This export terminal will
also offer diversification opportunities for domestic petrochemical
producers who will not have to rely solely on the export market for
derivatives like polyethylene. We are very pleased to work with
Navigator Gas in efforts to commercialize an industry-leading ethylene
marine export terminal that offers unsurpassed connectivity to ethylene
producers and pipeline and storage infrastructure.”
David Butters, chief executive officer of Navigator Gas, commented, “The
strong, broad interest shown by prospective terminal customers during
the initial marketing phase has reinforced our conviction on the
critical need for an ethylene export terminal. It is clear that domestic
producers value the opportunity to access global markets and
international consumers consider the U.S. as a reliable and affordable
source of ethylene to fuel their petrochemical manufacturing in Europe
and the Far East. We are delighted to work with Enterprise on this
project that promises to meet the needs of our customers and enables us
to provide the seaborne transportation of the ethylene from producer to
customer.”
Enterprise is also developing a high-capacity ethylene salt dome storage
facility at its complex in Mont Belvieu, Texas. This storage facility
will have a capacity of approximately 600 million pounds with an
injection/withdrawal rate of 420,000 pounds per hour. The storage
facility is expected to begin service in the first quarter of 2019 and
will be designed to enable connections to the eight ethylene pipelines
within a half-mile of the Enterprise ethylene storage system. In
addition, Enterprise is building a new ethylene pipeline from Mont
Belvieu to Bayport, Texas, which is scheduled to begin service in 2020.
The location and final investment decisions for the terminal are subject
to reaching acceptable arrangements with local taxing authorities.
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;
crude oil gathering, transportation, storage and terminals;
petrochemical and refined products transportation, storage and
terminals; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily
on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems. The
partnership’s assets include approximately 50,000 miles of pipelines;
260 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, crude oil, refined
products and petrochemicals; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas
storage capacity.
Navigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the world’s largest
fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers and a global leader in the
seaborne transportation of petrochemical gases, such as ethylene and
ethane, liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) and ammonia. We play a vital
role in the liquefied gas supply chain for energy companies, industrial
consumers and commodity traders, with our sophisticated vessels
providing an efficient and reliable ‘floating pipeline’ between the
parties. We continue to build strong, long-term partnerships based on
mutual trust, our deep technical expertise and modern versatile fleet.
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 and its general
partner and/or Navigator Gas expect, believe or anticipate will or may
occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that
may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations,
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 Enterprise’s and
Navigator Gas’s respective reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. 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, neither Enterprise nor Navigator Gas intends
to update or revise their respective forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Enterprise Products
Randy
Burkhalter, 713-381-6812 or 866-230-0745
Investor Relations
or
Rick
Rainey, 713-381-3635
Media Relations
or
Navigator
Gas
Oeyvind Lindeman, +44 (0)20 7340 4575
Chief
Commercial Officer
or
Niall Nolan, +44 (0) 20
7340 4852
Chief Financial Officer