HOUSTON and LONDON, January 31,
2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Enterprise Products Partners L.P.
(NYSE: EPD) and Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS) announced today
that they have entered into a 50/50 joint venture to build a new
ethylene export facility along the U.S. Gulf Coast that will have
the capacity to export approximately 1 million tons of ethylene per
year. Refrigerated storage for 30,000 tons of ethylene will be
constructed on-site and will provide the capability to load
ethylene at rates of 1,000 tons per hour. The facilities are
expected to be in service by the first quarter of 2020. The project
is supported by long-term contracts with anchor customers that
include U.S. ethylene producer Flint Hills Resources and a major
Japanese trading company.
"This new ethylene export terminal will support the growing
production of ethylene on the U.S. Gulf Coast by providing access
to international markets," said A.J. "Jim" Teague, chief executive officer of
Enterprise's general partner. "By 2021, the petrochemical
industry is expected to expand aggregate ethylene production
capacity in Texas and Louisiana by nearly 50 percent to
approximately 90 billion pounds per year. The resulting rapid
growth in the supply of U.S. ethylene, combined with increased
demand from international markets, like Asia, creates an ideal scenario in which
markets abroad are able to diversify their supply by accessing
cost-advantaged feedstocks made possible by the shale revolution in
the United States. This
export terminal will also offer diversification opportunities for
domestic petrochemical producers who will not have to rely solely
on the export market for derivatives like polyethylene. We are very
pleased to work with Navigator Gas in efforts to commercialize an
industry-leading ethylene marine export terminal that offers
unsurpassed connectivity to ethylene producers and pipeline and
storage infrastructure."
David Butters, chief executive
officer of Navigator Gas, commented, "The strong, broad interest
shown by prospective terminal customers during the initial
marketing phase has reinforced our conviction on the critical need
for an ethylene export terminal. It is clear that domestic
producers value the opportunity to access global markets and
international consumers consider the U.S. as a reliable and
affordable source of ethylene to fuel their petrochemical
manufacturing in Europe and the
Far East. We are delighted to work with Enterprise on this
project that promises to meet the needs of our customers and
enables us to provide the seaborne transportation of the ethylene
from producer to customer."
Enterprise is also developing a high-capacity ethylene salt dome
storage facility at its complex in Mont
Belvieu, Texas. This storage facility will have a capacity
of approximately 600 million pounds with an injection/withdrawal
rate of 420,000 pounds per hour. The storage facility is
expected to begin service in the first quarter of 2019 and will be
designed to enable connections to the eight ethylene pipelines
within a half-mile of the Enterprise ethylene storage system.
In addition, Enterprise is building a new ethylene pipeline
from Mont Belvieu to Bayport,
Texas, which is scheduled to begin
service in 2020.
The location and final investment decisions for the terminal are
subject to reaching acceptable arrangements with local taxing
authorities.
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.
Our services include: natural gas gathering, treating,
processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation,
fractionation, storage and import and export terminals; crude oil
gathering, transportation, storage 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 fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers and a global
leader in the seaborne transportation of petrochemical gases, such
as ethylene and ethane, liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") and
ammonia. We play a vital role in the liquefied gas supply chain for
energy companies, industrial consumers and commodity traders, with
our sophisticated vessels providing an efficient and reliable
'floating pipeline' between the parties. We continue to build
strong, long-term partnerships based on mutual trust, our deep
technical expertise and a modern versatile fleet.
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.
Contacts: Enterprise Products
Randy Burkhalter, Investor
Relations, +(713)-381-6812 or +(866)-230-0745
Rick Rainey, Media Relations
+(713)-381-3635
Navigator Gas
Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief
Commercial Officer,
+44(0)-20-7340-4575
Niall Nolan, Chief Financial Officer
+44(0)-20-7340-4852
SOURCE Navigator Gas