Kinder Morgan to build new US condensate processing facility

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has approximately $130m to build, own and operate a new petroleum condensate processing facility in Houston, Texas, US.

The project, which will be built near the company’s Galena Park terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, will split condensate into various components, such as light and heavy naphthas, kerosene and gas oil.

The facility will have an initial throughput of 25,000bpd, which will be underwritten by a major oil industry customer through a fee structure, with the capability to process up to 100,000bpd in the future.

The new condensate processing project will be completed in January 2014.

Kinder Morgan products pipelines president Tom Bannigan said the location of the new facility, when combined with the company’s recently completed $220m crude/condensate pipeline, will provide customers with connectivity to crude oil and clean products markets on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The pipeline will include approximately 70 miles of newbuild construction and 113 miles of converted natural gas pipeline.

Kinder Morgan has already begun construction of the pipeline, which will be in service in the second quarter of next year.

The pipeline will transport crude/condensate from the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas to the Houston Ship Channel.

In November, the company unveiled its plan to participate with Battleground Oil Specialty Terminal Company to build a new oil terminal on the Houston Ship Channel.

Kinder Morgan is a US-based pipeline transportation and energy storage company, and owns an interest in or operates over 28,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals.