Oil & Gas 360 said Aug. 17 a series of pipeline project completions in late 2019 and early 2020 “moved the Permian from a dearth of takeaway capacity to a surplus of pipe.” Analysts said, “Pending projects led by ExxonMobil and Enterprise Products Partners would cause the Permian’s crude pipeline capacity to nearly double the basin’s oil output by the end of next year, leading to a maze of half-empty pipes operating on reduced rates amid increasingly cutthroat competition.” Permian’s crude pipeline capacity is expected to reach almost 8 million barrels per day by end of 2021 while crude output should remain relatively flat at about 4.2 million b/d, according to S&P Global Platts. Analyst Ethan Bellamy of East Daley Capital expects Permian oil volumes to remain below 5 million b/d through 2025.
Oil & Gas 360 said Permian crude takeaway capacity is now close to 6 million b/d and will soon rise to 6.5 million b/d when Enterprise’s new Midland-to-ECHO III pipeline to Houston comes online by September. That Enterprise pipeline will link next year to ExxonMobil’s Wink-to-Webster system to increase capacity to above 7.5 million b/d. Plains All American is building Wink-to-Webster as a JV partner. Plains CEO Willie Chiang told Oil & Gas 360, “There’s easily five years of crude capacity before we have to worry about building any more long-haul pipes.”