Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners announced Tuesday four new capital projects totaling $3.1 billion to support production growth in Delaware and Midland sub-basins of Permian Basin. And the company said it will return the Seminole pipeline with capacity of 210,000 barrels per day of crude oil to natural gas liquids in December. Seminole was converted to crude service in 2019Q2 from NGL service. Tuesday’s announcement said, “Enterprise believes crude oil, natural gas and NGL production in Permian Basin will continue to grow throughout the decade.”
The four new projects include two new cryogenic natural gas processing plants and construction of a new NGL pipeline and fractionator. Enterprise started construction of a fourth gas processing plant (capacity 300 million cfd) at its existing Mentone complex in Loving County (scheduled to begin service in late 2025) and its eighth gas processing plant in the region (Orion also scheduled to be completed in late 2025 with capacity of 300 million cfd).
Enterprise said it will build Bahia NGL pipeline of 550 miles to transport up to 600,000 b/d of NGLs from Delaware and Midland basins to the company’s fractionation complex in Chambers County, where a 14th fractionator will be added. Bahia is scheduled to begin service in early 2025.
Christian Nelly, executive vice president, told reporters, “We need NGL takeaway right now.” A.J. (Jim) Teague, co-CEO, added, “We are seeing the results of efficiencies and enhancements at the wellhead, both in terms of speed to production and higher production. The investments we are announcing are necessary to facilitate the next phase of Permian production growth and will also complement our expansions of downstream pipelines and marine terminals to deliver energy products to growing domestic and international markets.”