Enterprise begins service at echo crude oil terminal
Houston--(business wire)--enterprise products partners l.p. (nyse:epd) today announced that the initial phase of its enterprise crude houston (“echo”) storage terminal in harris county, texas is complete and the facility is now receiving deliveries of crude oil. the first three tanks total 750,000 barrels of storage capacity. the next phase of the echo terminal expansion includes the addition of up to 900,000 barrels of storage capacity, which could be in service as early as the first quarter of 2014. enterprise estimates that the echo facility could have up to 6 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity when completed. “enterprise’s echo facility is at the center of a historic and fundamental shift in our nation’s crude oil infrastructure by linking growing supplies of north american crude and condensate production with the u.s. gulf coast refining complex,” said a.j. “jim” teague, executive vice president and chief operating officer of enterprise’s general partner. “we are very pleased to announce the completion of the initial phase of echo. our investments in echo, the recently completed eagle ford shale pipeline and the seaway crude oil pipeline will benefit both producers and consumers of crude oil while supporting energy security for our nation. ultimately, echo will provide pipeline and waterborne access to every major gulf coast refinery, representing more than 7 million barrels per day of capacity.” recognizing the flexibility and market liquidity potential of echo and its significance as a delivery hub for growing sources of north american crude oil, echo is under consideration by the new york mercantile exchange (“nymex”) as a regional pricing point for the u.s. gulf coast crude market. through the seaway crude oil pipeline, echo will be connected to the storage hub in cushing, oklahoma, the nymex benchmark pricing point for its west texas intermediate crude oil contract. enterprise products partners l.p. is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading north american provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, ngls, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. the partnership’s assets include approximately 50,700 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 190 million barrels of storage capacity for ngls, petrochemicals, refined products and crude oil; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity. services include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; ngl transportation, fractionation, storage, and import and export terminals; crude oil and refined products transportation, storage and terminals; offshore production platforms; petrochemical transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the united states inland and intracoastal waterway systems and in the gulf of mexico. for additional information about enterprise, please visit www.enterpriseproducts.com. this press release includes “forward-looking statements” as defined by the securities and exchange commission. all statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein that address activities, events, developments or transactions that enterprise expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including anticipated benefits and other aspects of such activities, events, developments or transactions, are forward-looking statements. these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including required approvals by regulatory agencies, the possibility that the anticipated benefits from such activities, events, developments or transactions cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or difficulties related thereto will be greater than expected, the impact of competition and other risk factors included in the reports filed with the securities and exchange commission by enterprise. readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. except as required by law, enterprise does not intend to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
