HOUSTON and LONDON, July 12,
2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) and Navigator
Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NVGS) today announced the execution of a
letter of intent to jointly develop an ethylene marine export
terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. Enterprise would manage
the construction, operations and commercial activities of the
proposed terminal, which would be located at Enterprise's Morgan's
Point complex. Enterprise's Morgan's Point facility has a
45-foot draft and includes Enterprise's ethane marine export
terminal, the world's largest. Navigator Gas has extensive
experience with ethylene shipping through its fleet of 14
ethylene-capable vessels that provide a virtual pipeline to deliver
ethylene to consuming customers.
The ethylene export terminal would be connected to Enterprise's
high-capacity ethylene salt dome storage and ethylene pipeline
system, which is currently under construction. Enterprise's
ethylene storage facility will have approximately 600 million
pounds of capacity with an injection/withdrawal rate of 210,000
pounds per hour expandable to 420,000 pounds per hour.
Enterprise's ethylene pipeline system will be connected to
multiple producers and consumers of ethylene on the U.S. Gulf
Coast.
The U.S. petrochemical industry is expanding its ethylene
production capacity by 45 percent between 2016 and 2020, based on
currently announced projects. These expansions are driven by
plentiful, low-cost supplies of natural gas and ethane as a result
of the development of U.S. shale reserves. Almost 90 percent
of these expansions are at facilities located along the
Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Enterprise's ethylene storage and pipeline system, together
with the proposed ethylene export terminal, would provide the
petrochemical industry with logistical flexibility and an outlet to
international markets.
"We are very pleased to work with Navigator Gas in efforts to
commercialize an industry leading ethylene marine export terminal
on the Houston Ship Channel with unsurpassed connectivity to
ethylene producers and pipeline and storage infrastructure," said
A.J. "Jim" Teague, chief executive
officer of the general partner of Enterprise. "Customers
would have the ability to manage the transportation and storage of
ethylene supplies from the tailgate of producing facilities to
domestic and international consuming derivative plants. The
proposed ethylene export terminal would provide U.S. petrochemical
companies critical market diversification rather than relying
solely on polyethylene export markets."
"A strategically located ethylene export terminal is the key to
unlocking growing petrochemical production capacity in the U.S.
We are proud to work with Enterprise, with their proven
commercial and technical capabilities, on a project that
promises to meet the needs of our customers and provides the
seamless transportation of ethylene from the producer to the
customer," commented David Butters,
chief executive officer of Navigator Gas.
Formation of the 50/50 joint venture to build, own and operate
the ethylene marine export terminal is subject to the negotiation
and execution of definitive agreements and approval by the
respective boards of directors of Enterprise and Navigator
Holdings. The commercialization of the project is subject to
sufficient long-term customer commitments.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly
traded partnerships 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 services include: natural gas gathering,
treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL
transportation, fractionation, storage, and export and import
terminals; crude oil gathering, transportation, storage,
export and terminals; petrochemical and refined products
transportation, storage and terminals; and a marine transportation
business that operates primarily on the
United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems.
The partnership's assets include approximately 50,000 miles
of pipelines; 260 million barrels of storage capacity for
NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals; and 14
billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.
Navigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the
world's largest combined fleet of handysize and midsize liquefied
gas carriers, including the largest fleet of ethylene vessels, by
tonnage. Navigator Holdings provides international and
regional seaborne transportation services of ethylene, ethane, LPG,
petrochemical gases and ammonia for energy companies, industrial
users and commodity traders. Navigator Holdings's fleet of 38
vessels, 14 of which are the largest ethylene and ethane-capable
liquefied gas carriers available in the market, enables
cost-effective and efficient long-haul transportation of ethylene
for our customers.
This press release includes "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact, included herein that address activities, events, developments
or transactions that Enterprise and its general partner and/or
Navigator Gas expect, believe or anticipate will or
may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from
expectations, including required approvals by regulatory agencies,
the possibility that the anticipated benefits from such activities,
events, developments or transactions cannot be fully realized, the
possibility that costs or difficulties related thereto will be
greater than expected, the impact of competition, and other risk
factors included in Enterprise's and Navigator
Gas's respective reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of their dates. Except as required by law, neither
Enterprise nor Navigator Gas intends to update or
revise their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Enterprise Contacts:
Randy Burkhalter, Investor
Relations, +1-(713) 381-6812 or
(866)-230-0745
Rick Rainey, Media
Relations,+1- (713)-381-3635
Navigator Gas Contacts: Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief Commercial Officer,
+44-(0)207340-4575;
Kim Davies, Head of Corporate
Development +44-(0)207340-0687
SOURCE Navigator Gas