Enterprise Plans Ethylene Export Terminal for Houston

Enterprise Products Partners said Wednesday it plans to built a terminal along the Houston Ship Channel to export the primary building of most plastics.

The proposed ethylene export terminal would be constructed at Houston-based Enterprise's Morgan's Point complex in a joint venture with the United Kingdom's Navigator Gas to take advantage of all the new ethylene production coming online this year in the Houston region.

The ethylene surge is the result of the ongoing shale boom producing much more natural gas liquids, including ethane, which is used to create ethylene.

Companies like Exxon Mobil, Dow Chemical and Chevron Phillips Chemical are all slated to complete major ethylene and polyethylene plastics expansions this year in the Houston area ranging from Baytown to Freeport.

Enterprise CEO Jim Teague said the idea for the ethylene export terminal is to give companies the option of exporting the base petrochemicals rather than the refined plastics.

"The proposed ethylene export terminal would provide U.S. petrochemical companies critical market diversification rather than relying solely on polyethylene export markets," Teague said in the announcement.

However, Enterprise's news is short on details. Teague isn't yet revealing estimated project costs, jobs created, or the size of the proposed terminal project. That's because Enterprise and Navigator signed a letter of intent to develop the terminal, but haven't formally authorized it yet.

The export terminal would tie into Enterprise's ongoing expansion of its salt dome storage facilities near the ship channel. Enterprise will have about 600 million pounds of storage capacity.

Enterprise has evolved into the country's biggest exporter of goods related to natural gas liquids. In the fall, Enterprise finished building the world's largest ethane export terminal along the Houston Ship Channel.

In April, Enterprise said it will build a 571-mile pipeline from the Permian Basin to the Houston area to transport NGLs.

Enterprise's Mont Belvieu NGL complex is the largest of its kind in the world. Enterprise can sell the ethane to petrochemical plants or export the ethane, propane and butane to foreign markets. Enterprise also is building new fractionation capacity to separate the natural gas liquids into ethane, propane and more.