Enterprise Products Partners and Navigator Holdings have launched the construction of an ethylene export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel.
The 50/50 joint venture terminal, located at Enterprise’s Morgan’s Point, Texas facility, will have the capacity to export 2.2 billion pounds of ethylene per year.
Refrigerated storage for 66 million pounds of ethylene is being constructed on-site and will provide the capability to load ethylene at rates of 2.2 million pounds per hour.
Commercial operations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019, one quarter earlier than previously projected.
The new export terminal will facilitate continued growth of domestic ethylene production, which is expected to reach 90 billion pounds per year by 2021.
In addition, the terminal being constructed by Enterprise and Navigator will promote supply diversification for expanding markets like Asia, which rely on cost-advantaged U.S. feedstocks.