<article><p><i>Adds comments on LNG </i></p><p class="lead">Energy Transfer is in the "cost-estimating stage" of a project to load very large crude carriers (VLCC) connected to its terminal in Nederland, Texas, the company's chief executive said today. </p><p>The company is examining the price of the project and determining whether it can find a customer that can justify the cost, Kelcy Warren said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, Texas.</p><p>Energy Transfer is also considering exporting crude out of its US east coast terminal of Marcus Hook near Philadelphia. The company has a huge site on the water and "would love to be in the crude export business," he said. </p><p>Warren also said that concerns about the coronavirus are delaying negotiations with key LNG customers in China for its Lake Charles joint venture facility because the company will not allow its employees to travel to China and has evacuated its office in Beijing. The company is close to getting some contracts signed, he said. </p><p>Energy Transfer has previously said that the Gulf Coast VLCC project should be in service in late 2022 or early 2023.</p><p>Several companies — including Enterprise Products Partners, Enbridge, Phillips 66, Trafigura, Tallgrass Energy and Sentinel Midstream — are also weighing offshore oil ports in the US Gulf coast as demand grows for exporting US crude. Just one US port, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), is currently capable of fully loading VLCCs.</p><p>Energy Transfer is planning an expansion of its 570,00 b/d Bakken crude system from North Dakota to Nederland, which would move more crude to the water. The system could nearly double to 1.1mn b/d by adding pump stations.</p><p>Warren said that the expansion was a "no brainer project." </p><p>The Bakken system includes the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) from the Bakken to Patoka, Illinois, and the connecting Energy Transfer Crude Oil pipeline (ETCOP) line to the US Gulf coast.</p><p>The expansion is facing some headwinds as environmental groups and indigenous groups are opposing state applications for the pump modifications.</p><p>Warren said that the prospect of a change in the US administration later this year is of great concern as some Democratic candidates are proposing bans on hydraulic fracturing and other strict limits on oil and gas. </p><p>"I am scared to death," he said. </p><p class="bylines">By Eunice Bridges</p></article>
