Plains All American, Enterprise Products to Expand Joint Venture Pipeline

By Brad Kramer November 4, 2014 View Profile

Plains All American Pipeline LP and Enterprise Products Partners LP are building a new condensate gathering system as part of the Three Rivers terminal in Texas. The expansion will double the mainline capacity of the Eagle Ford Joint Venture Pipeline from Three Rivers to Corpus Christi. These expansions are supported by a long-term production commitment and are expected to be placed into service in the third quarter of 2015.

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The Eagle Ford pipeline system is a 50/50 joint venture between Plains and Enterprise that delivers crude oil and condensate via pipeline from Gardendale in La Salle County, Texas, to the Three Rivers and Corpus Christi refineries and to other markets via marine transport facilities at Corpus Christi. Furthermore, the pipeline supplies the Houston-area market through a connection to the Enterprise Crude Pipeline terminal at Lyssy in Wilson County, Texas.

As part of the expansion, the companies will construct a new gathering system with approximately 55 miles of gathering and trunkline pipeline that will connect Karnes and Live Oak counties production areas to the Three Rivers terminal. The companies will also construct an additional 70-mile, 20-in. pipeline from Three Rivers to Corpus Christi as well as expand storage and pumping capacity at Three Rivers. Combined with the previously announced expansion, this project effectively loops the Eagle Ford Joint Venture Pipeline from Gardendale to Corpus Christi and increases the system capacity to more than 600,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Eagle Ford system will be connected with the Cactus pipeline, which Plains is constructing from the Permian Basin at McCamey to the Eagle Ford pipeline at Gardendale.

Plains and Enterprise will also build a new terminal on the Corpus Christi ship channel to support the increased volumes to be shipped via pipeline to the region. The dock will have the capacity to handle a variety of ocean-going vessels and is planned to be in service by 2017.