Buckeye expands Texas marine crude terminal

Buckeye Partners' marine terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, will open next year with 7mn bl of crude storage, double the amount initially planned.

The company increased the terminal's capacity based on contracted throughput and storage volumes, it said this week. The South Texas Gateway terminal, currently under construction, is expected to be in service in mid-2020.

The facility will include two deepwater docks capable of berthing very large crude carriers (VLCC) and a possible third dock in the future.

Buckeye will be able to load a VLCC with about 1.5mn bl after the planned completion of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, which will increase the channel's depth. A VLCC can carry up to 2mn bl. The terminal will also be able to fully load 1mn bl Suezmax vessels.

Buckeye has said previously that the facility would be able to export 800,000-1mn b/d.

South Texas Gateway will connect to the 900,000 b/d Gray Oak crude pipeline which is expected to be in service by the end of this year moving Permian and Eagle Ford crude to the US Gulf coast. Phillips 66 Partners said last month it has installed about 80pc of pipe for Gray Oak, or about 700 miles (1,100km).

Two other large crude pipelines are scheduled to go into service this year to move more Permian crude to Corpus Christi: Plains All American Pipeline's 670,000 b/d Cactus 2 pipeline and Epic's 400,000 b/d line, which was built for natural gas liquids but will move crude initially.

Epic's use of the NGL line is an interim measure until a larger crude project is ready for service. Epic's long-haul crude line, a 730-mile (1,175km) system from west Texas to Corpus Christi, is expected to start in early 2020. That project could be as large as 900,000 b/d.

The Buckeye terminal expansion comes as US crude exports are booming.

US crude exports in June averaged a record high of 3.16mn b/d, with South Korea and Canada as the top two destinations, according to the latest monthly federal trade data.

Buckeye Partners is in the process of being sold to fund manager IFM Investors with the deal expected to close by the end of the year.