New Enterprise NGL Fractionator Begins Commerical Operations

abarrelfull wrote on 30 Nov 2010 18:02
Tags: enterprise ngl refinery usa

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Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) today announced that the partnership's fourth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator at its Mont Belvieu, Texas complex has commenced operations ahead of schedule, under budget and is operating at its nameplate capacity of 75,000 barrels per day (BPD). The new NGL fractionator provides much-needed capacity to accommodate growing NGL volumes from some of the nation's most prolific producing areas like the Barnett Shale in North Texas and the Rockies. Supported by long-term, firm contracts, including the partnership's single-largest fractionation services agreement signed earlier this year, the new addition increases Enterprise's nameplate capacity at its Mont Belvieu facility to 305,000 BPD.

"Strong fundamentals on both sides of the supply/demand equation continue to create a favorable environment for incremental NGL fractionation capacity, and the completion of this project reflects Enterprise's commitment and capability to provide the midstream services necessary to link natural gas producers and consumers," said A.J. "Jim" Teague, Enterprise executive vice president and chief operating officer. "Production from liquids-rich natural gas plays remains brisk, while the favorable price differential for natural gas and NGLs compared to crude oil is leading several petrochemical companies to modify their ethylene facilities to increase their ability to crack NGL feedstocks such as ethane."

During the third quarter of 2010, crude oil prices continued to be considerably more expensive than natural gas, with natural gas averaging approximately 33 percent of crude oil on a Btu basis. This relationship continued to drive the ethylene industry's preference for lower cost NGL feedstocks with record amounts of NGLs being consumed in August and September of 2010. Enterprise's additional fractionation capacity provides a new source of NGL supplies on the Texas Gulf Coast that helps position U.S. petrochemical companies as one of the lowest cost producers of ethylene in the global marketplace.

With an enterprise value of approximately $50 billion, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is the largest publicly traded partnership and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Enterprise's assets include: 49,100 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; approximately 200 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, refined products and crude oil; and 27 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity. Services include: natural gas transportation, gathering, processing and storage; NGL fractionation, transportation, storage, and import and export terminaling; crude oil and refined products storage, transportation and terminaling; offshore production platform; petrochemical transportation and storage; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. Additional information is available at www.epplp.com.

• New Enterprise NGL Fractionator Begins Commerical Operations

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