Enterprise to extend Houston terminal

US midstream company Enterprise Products Partners plans to expand its crude, LPG and polymer-grade propylene (PGP) export capacity at its terminal in Houston, Texas, by the end of next year.

The proposal includes adding an eighth dock at the Enterprise Hydrocarbon Terminal (EHT) on the Houston Ship Channel with a capacity to load another 840,000 b/d of crude, 260,000 b/d of LPG and 67,200 b/d of PGP.

The dock will be able to accommodate a Suezmax tanker — the largest ship class that can navigate the channel — according to the company.

The additional LPG capacity is expected to come on line by the third quarter of 2020 and adds to the nearly completed 175,000 b/d LPG expansion due to start up this quarter. The terminal's total LPG export capacity will rise to 835,000 b/d by the end of this year and to 1.09mn b/d by the end of 2020.

The company will also add refrigeration capacity at the site, giving customers the ability to co-load fully refrigerated LPG and PGP at the terminal. Enterprise has previously announced plans for another propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at its Mont Belvieu complex.

The announcement comes as Enterprise competes with other terminal operators in Corpus Christi, Texas, for a share of the growing crude and natural gas liquids (NGL) output from the Permian shale. Enterprise forecasts US LPG exports to rise to 2.8mn b/d from 1.4mn b/d.

The Enterprise terminal is the largest LPG export facility in the US. The lion's share of LPG demand growth is coming from Asia-Pacific, where new ethylene crackers and PDH units are bolstering demand for US supplies.