EPD to Expand LPG Export Facility
Midstream energy service provider, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) announced expansion plans for its LPG export terminal located on the Houston Ship Channel.
The partnership intends to boost the capacity of its LPG export terminal by additional 1.5 million barrels (MMBbls), or three cargoes per month. This will enhance the total refrigeration capacity and increase the total design capacity to about 9 MMbbls per month. The project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015.
In March 2013, the partnership completed the expansion of its LPG export terminal, augmenting propane loading capacity to about 7.5 MMBbls per month from 4 MMBbls. The facility has been outperforming since its inception and is currently loading over 8.0 MMBbls per month of fully-refrigerated, low-ethane propane.
The terminal is expected to continue performing above expectations at the new levels as natural gas liquids (NGL) yield grows from domestic shale plays and propane requirement increases as a feedstock for global ethylene crackers.
Enterprise Products Partners, a leading master limited partnership (MLP), is engaged in providing a wide range of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGL and crude oil.
The partnership's assets include 50,200 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines, approximately 192 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, refined products and crude oil, and 27 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.
Enterprise Products Partners is considered a core holding in an MLP portfolio, given its string of organic growth projects, potential acquisitions, strong balance sheet and solid liquidity position. The partnership is one of the largest fully integrated midstream service providers with a positive long-term outlook given its significant geographic and business diversity.
Enterprise Products Partners carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). However, Zacks Ranked #1 (Strong Buy) stocks – China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP), Stone Energy Corp. (SGY) and Dril-Quip Inc. (DRQ) – are good buying options for the short term.
Read the Full Research Report on EPDRead the Full Research Report on SNPRead the Full Research Report on DRQRead the Full Research Report on SGYZacks Investment Research
