Houston, 29 July (Argus) — Vitol will move forward with its proposed LPG export terminal near Beaumont, Texas, which would move roughly 3mn bl per month of propane into international markets.
The company said it will go ahead and order long lead-time items for the terminal, which would likely be operational in 2015. In February Vitol announced Japanese trading house Itochu would take a 34pc stake in the project, with a final investment decision expected as early as June, but Itochu has not issued any update on the status of its investment in the project.
Vitol did not disclose the source of the propane to be exported. Vitol's terminal would connect to the Coastal Caverns storage facility on the Spindletop Dome at Beaumont, which has acquired permits for up to 30mn bl of liquids storage capacity.
Competitors to Vitol's project, including possible expansions at Enterprise Products Partners' existing 7.5mn bl per month terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, and Sunoco Logistics' planned facility in Nederland, Texas, would connect to those operators' own fractionators and storage caverns.
Vitol's statement comes as Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, which is a joint partner for Williams' Bluegrass pipeline project carrying unfractionated NGLs from the Marcellus Shale to Louisiana, outlined more details concerning an export terminal project in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Boardwalk/Williams terminal would determine its export capacity pending an open season later this year to gauge customer interest.
The plans come as multiple midstream players rush to develop their own terminal projects along the US Gulf coast.
Last week Occidental Petroleum confirmed it is constructing an LPG export facility at Ingleside, Texas, near Corpus Christi, to begin VLGC exports in 2017. At the same time, Phillips 66 has announced an export project from its existing dock at Freeport, Texas, that would handle roughly six VLGCs per month by the third quarter of 2016.
Along the east coast, Sunoco Logistics is adding above-ground refrigerated storage and a de-ethanizer to is Marcus Hook export terminal outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which currently has 2mn bl of underground NGL storage. The midstream operator is already moving small cargoes out of the site to European markets and elsewhere.
Mitsui's Intercontinental Terminal and Vopak are also discussing export projects.
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