Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Houston Ship Channel News

CME Adds Two Delivery Points to WTI Houston

Photo: CME Group

CME Group on Thursday said it would add two more delivery points for its WTI Houston crude futures contract, pending regulatory review, as it seeks to provide customers with additional options to hedge physical price risk.* Beginning with the March 2020 contract, customers can take delivery of U.S.

Energy Transfer: VLCC Offshore Port to be Ready Early 2023

AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Energy Transfer LP said on Thursday discussions with potential shippers to build an offshore crude export facility in Texas capable of handling supertankers were progressing on schedule, with the project expected to be in service by late 2022 or early 2023.The company has also made advances on the regulatory and permitting process for the project, Marshall McCrea, Energy Transfer's chief commercial officer, said…

CSB: Chemical Leak Caused Fire at ITC Houston Terminal

The Houston, Texas Refining Complex (Credit: AdobeStock / © Irina K

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Wednesday that a fuel leak, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive blaze at a Mitsui & Co Ltd petrochemical storage operation along the Houston Ship Channel in March.The fire that began on March 17 at Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) spread black smoke across Houston, shut the nearby ship channel, slowed production at local oil refineries…

Fire at Mitsui’s ITC Houston-area Terminal Began with Naphtha Leak -U.S.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Wednesday that leaking volatile naphtha, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive fire at Mitsui & Co Ltd's Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) operation along the Houston Ship Channel in March.The fire that began on March 17 spread a black cloud of smoke across Houston, shut the ship channel, led to cuts in production at nearby refineries,…

Energy Transfer to Buy SemGroup

Oil and gas pipeline company Energy Transfer LP said on Monday it would buy smaller rival SemGroup Corp for $1.35 billion and build a 75-mile oil pipeline to strengthen its oil transportation, terminalling and export operations.Energy Transfer will gain control of SemGroup's crude oil terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, and to connect it with its Nederland, Texas terminal, Energy Transfer said it will construct a pipeline between the two terminals.Energy Transfer will also add SemGroup's crude oil gathering

Kinder Morgan Invest $170Mln in Houston Ship Channel

Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan (KMI) plans to invest $170 million in various expansion projects along the Houston Ship Channel.The investment will increase efficiency, add product liquidity, and enhance blending capabilities at its Pasadena and Galena Park terminals, part of its best-in-class refined products storage hub on the Houston Ship Channel, said the energy infrastructure company in North America.In response to growing customer demand…

Enterprise Products to Build GoM Crude Terminal

File Image: AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday it expects to take about two years to construct its oil export project called Sea Port Oil Terminal, or SPOT, in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Permitting for the terminal was expected to reach the final stages by the end of the first quarter of 2020 and final approval was expected during the second quarter, a company executive said on its second quarter earnings call.Enterprise Products signed long-term agreements with Chevron Corp to support the development of SPOT…

Fire Erupts at Exxon's Baytown complex; 37 Hurt

An aerial view of the houston Refining complex (CREDIT: AdobeStock / © Irina K)

Exxon Mobil Corp said it was fighting a fire that erupted on Wednesday at its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex injuring 37 people and sending nearby residents indoors.As many as 37 people were being treated for non-life threatening injuries amid efforts to put out the fire, according to Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Nordin. Available air monitoring information showed "no adverse impact at this time…

Enterprise, Chevron to Build Offshore Port

Pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners  signed long-term agreements with Chevron Corp to develop Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) in the Gulf of Mexico.The American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company said in a release that its SPOT project consists of onshore and offshore facilities, including a fixed platform located approximately 30 nautical miles off the Brazoria County, Texas…

U.S. LPG Gas Exports Up in Q1

North American liquefied petroleum gas  (LPG) export capacity is forecast to grow considerably over the next two years, said Dorian LPG.According to the LPG shipping company, bolstered by additional volumes out of Marcus Hook in the northeast U.S. due to the startup of the Mariner East 2 pipeline, U.S. exports reached their highest levels for the first calendar quarter of 2019 in January with over 3 million metric tons of LPG exported during the month.However, significant reductions in U.S.

Oil Prices Slip

© salman2 /Adobe Stock

Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after government data showed U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly rose last week, though disruptions to Venezuela's crude exports limited losses.Brent crude futures lost 1 cent to $67.96 a barrel at 10:48 a.m. EST (1448 GMT). U.S. crude futures fell 24 cents to $59.70 a barrel.U.S. crude inventories rose last week by 2.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 1.2 million barrels, the U.S.

TX Refineries Cut Output as Spill Curbs Shipping

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and LyondellBasell Industries cut production on Monday at their Houston-area oil refineries because of shipping disruptions along a waterway affected by a petrochemical fire and spill, according to people familiar with the matter.A fire and fuel leak at Mitsui & Co Inc's Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) storage facility in Deer Park, Texas, last week sent gasoline, water and fire suppressant foam into the Houston Ship Channel…

Phillips 66, Kinder Announce Gray Oak Pipeline Deliveries to Houston

Photo: Gray Oak Pipeline LLC

Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan Inc began on Monday soliciting shipper commitments for crude deliveries on the 900,000 barrel per day (bpd) Gray Oak Pipeline from the Permian Basin to delivery points at or near the Houston Ship Channel, the companies said.The Gray Oak Pipeline would deliver crude to the Houston area through a connection in South Texas. The pipeline is one analysts believe could help alleviate a crude oil transportation bottleneck in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico.

Chevron Eyes Houston Ship Channel for 2nd US Gulf Refinery

(File photo: Port of Houston)

Chevron Corp wants to build or buy a refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast to process crude oil from its rapidly growing Permian Basin operations, a senior executive said on Tuesday.The company would like to have refining operations on the Houston Ship Channel, in the western part of the U.S. Gulf, to complement an existing eastern Gulf refinery in Mississippi that makes lubricants and other materials, Pierre Breber…

Enterprise Adds Vessel Fueling Capabilities at Houston

Enterprise Products Partners, as of June 1, 2018, is the exclusive provider of residual marine fuel (RMG 380) and marine gas oil (MGO) at its Enterprise Hydrocarbons Terminal (EHT) on the Houston Ship Channel. RMG 380 and MGO are the primary transportation fuels used by deep-draft vessels that dock at the EHT facility. “Being able to fuel ships as they load and offload product at our EHT marine terminal significantly streamlines the process…

ETP to Build Pipeline from Permian to Nederland, Texas

Photo: ETP

Energy Transfer Partners said on Thursday it plans to build a crude pipeline from the Permian basin in Texas to the Houston Ship Channel and Nederland, Texas, which will have an initial capacity of up to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).The pipeline will be "easily expandable" to 1 million bpd and is likely to come online by 2020, the company said during a first quarter earnings conference call.Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York

Oil/Chemical Spills from Harvey Are Big, but Dwarfed by Katrina

More than 22,000 barrels of oil, refined fuels and chemicals spilled at sites across Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, along with millions of cubic feet of natural gas and hundreds of tons of other toxic substances, a Reuters review of company reports to the U.S. Coast Guard shows. The spills, clustered around the heart of the U.S. oil industry, together rank among the worst environmental mishaps in the country in years…

USCG, EPA Cleaning up a Dozen Texas Chemical Spills after Harvey

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency are working with Texas state regulators to clean up oil and chemicals spilled from a dozen industrial facilities after flooding from Hurricane Harvey, authorities said. The spills came from oil refineries, fuel terminals and other businesses, but EPA spokeswoman Terri White said it was not possible to provide an estimate for the amounts spilled. "Initial reports were based on observation," White said.

U.S. Midwest Refiners Profit as Harvey Hits Rivals

U.S. refiners in the Midwest will be among the biggest winners after Hurricane Harvey dealt a blow to their competitors on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Refiners such as PBF Energy and HollyFrontier that are not hit by Harvey are on course for their best quarter in two years amid fears of fuel shortages that helped push profit margins for making gasoline up as much as 21 percent on Monday <RBc1-CLc1>. The U.S. refining…

Harvey Interrupts Asia LPG Exports from Gulf Coast

Harvey delays at least 300,000 T of U.S. LPG shipments. Shipments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the United States have been held up by the havoc wrought by tropical storm Harvey since last Friday, but Asian buyers are betting the situation will improve before supplies are critically squeezed. At least 300,000 tonnes in LPG shipments to Asia have been delayed after U.S. Gulf ports were shut, based on the estimates from four sources who buy mainly U.S. cargoes.