Enterprise unveils Aegis ethane pipeline for US Gulf
Enterprise Products has received sufficient transportation commitments to support development of a new 270-mile pipeline header system that will deliver ethane to petrochemical plants in the US Gulf Coast region, the company said Tuesday.
As designed, the Aegis pipeline will originate at Enterprise’s liquids storage complex in Mont Belvieu, Texas, and have the capacity to transport purity ethane to multiple petrochemical facilities in Texas and Louisiana.
The final design, including capacity and delivery points, will be determined once any further binding commitments are received at the conclusion of the project’s open commitment period.
“The willingness of shippers to make long-term commitments provides us with the assurance necessary to build the midstream infrastructure that will facilitate additional consumption of domestically produced ethane,” said A. J. “Jim” Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise’s general partner.
“Enterprise’s Mont Belvieu storage facilities, which have extensive receipt and delivery capacities for natural gas liquids (NGL), will support the Aegis pipeline with sufficient and reliable supplies of ethane," he continued.
"Aegis will provide the distribution network necessary for producers from basins across the country to access growing petrochemical demand. Demand for price-advantaged ethane feedstock within the Gulf Coast petrochemical market is over 1 million bpd and continues to increase.”
To determine additional shipper interest in the project, Enterprise is conducting an open commitment period that began Tuesday at 9 a.m. Central time and will close April 9, 2013, at 5 p.m.
The Aegis project is expected to directly create approximately 1,500 jobs during construction, according to the company, which will increase the need for local goods and services and generate incremental state and local tax revenue. This is in addition to the jobs generated by the new and expanded ethylene plants in the US Gulf Coast.
Aegis is expected to begin commercial operations in 2014.
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