First Ethane Cargo from Morgan’s Point Shipped

US-based provider of midstream energy services Enterprise Products Partners L.P. loaded the first cargo of ethane to be exported from its Morgan’s Point, Texas terminal aboard the 2015-built LPG tanker JS INEOS Intrepid on September 1.

The tanker, loaded with some 265,000 barrels of ethane, set sail from the facility yesterday morning en route to the INEOS facility at Rafnes in Norway.

According to AIS data provided by MarineTraffic, the vessel is scheduled to arrive at its destination on September 14.

Enterprise said that the supply for the new ethane export terminal is sourced from its natural gas liquids fractionation and storage complex in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which is connected to ethane production from the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions through the ATEX pipeline.

“The driving force behind development of the terminal is the growing international demand for abundant U.S. ethane from shale plays, which offers the global petrochemical industry a low-cost feedstock option and supply diversification,” the company said.