Kinder Morgan Announces Expansion Of Houston Ship Channel Facilities

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) announced on August 14 a series of projects, totaling over $170 million of capital investment, that will increase efficiency, add product liquidity, and enhance blending capabilities at its Pasadena and Galena Park terminals, part of its refined products storage hub on the Houston Ship Channel.

In response to growing customer demand, KMI’s liquids terminal platform now includes 10 ship docks, 38 barge spots, 20 inbound pipelines providing connectivity to 10 regional refineries and chemical plants, 15 outbound pipelines, 14 cross-channel lines, and approximately 43 million barrels of storage on the Houston Ship Channel.

KMI said it will invest approximately $125 million on enhancements to its Pasadena Terminal and Jefferson Street Truck Rack, including:

• increased flow rates on inbound pipeline connections and outbound dock lines, significantly reducing vessel load times and expanding effective dock capacity;

• tank modifications that will provide for butane blending and vapor combustion capabilities on 10 storage tanks, with the option to extend those capabilities to an additional 25 tanks or more;

• expansion of the current methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) storage and blending platform, including a dedicated cross-channel MTBE line serving vessels being loaded at Pasadena’s north docks; and

• a new, dedicated natural gasoline (C5) inbound connection, enhancing customers’ blendstock supply optionality and liquidity.

In addition to the enhancements at the Pasadena Terminal, KMI said it will also invest more than $45 million to develop and construct a butane-on-demand blending system for 25 tanks at its Galena Park Terminal.

“These projects speak to Kinder Morgan’s continued commitment to excellence and to improving our already best-in-class facilities along the Houston Ship Channel,” said John Schlosser, president of terminals for KMI.

“The announced improvements only serve to enhance our position as the market-leading refined petroleum products storage hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast. This offers our customers unmatched supply optionality and liquidity and modal efficiencies as they aim to maximize storage and blending economics and access domestic and global energy markets in the most cost-effective manner possible.”