Enterprise Products to build ethane export facility on Texas Gulf Coast

North American midstream energy services provider Enterprise Products will construct a refrigerated ethane export facility on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The facility, which the company claims to be the largest in the world, is anticipated to have a total loading rate of around around 240,000 barrels a day.

The company will integrate the plant with its Mont Belvieu complex, which has more than 650,000 barrels a day of natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation capacity and 100 million barrels of NGL storage capacity.

Enterprise Products general partner chief executive officer Michael Creel said that the new ethane facility development highlights the company’s commitment to serve growing demand for US energy needs.

"This is particularly important for ethane, which is a by-product of natural gas and crude oil production and has limited uses," Creel added.

"We estimate US ethane production capacity currently exceeds US demand by 300,000 barrels a day and could exceed demand by up to 700,000 barrels a day by 2020, after considering the estimated incremental demand from new ethylene facilities that have been announced."

Enterprise Products has long-term contracts to support the development of the facility, which is planned to open in the third quarter of 2016.

The company offers a range of midstream energy services to the producers and consumers of natural gas, NGL, and crude oil.