San Antonio pipeline operator Epic Midstream reached two important milestones in Corpus Christi — its first crude oil export shipment and moving forward with a plan to build a new natural gas liquids processing plant.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Epic reported that it had loaded and launched the first export shipment of crude oil from the IGC marine terminal located on the Inner Harbor of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
On Thursday, the company announced that it made a final investment decision to build a $150 million natural gas liquids process plant in nearby Robstown. Known in the industry as a fractionator, the plant will receive 110,000 barrels of raw natural gas liquids per day and separate them into their more valuable components such as ethane, propane, butane and pentane.
The majority of natural gas liquids are processed, stored and sold at plants and terminals in Mont Belvieu, a small town about 30 miles east of Houston. Epic is marketing its Robstown facility as an alternative destination for natural gas liquids, which are known in the industry as NGLs.
“Our customers value EPIC as a strategic alternative to Mont Belvieu and we are committed to providing them the highest level of service,” Epic Midstream CEO Phillip Mezey said in a statement.
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Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Antonio, Epic Midstream owns and operates a pipeline designed to move natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin of West Texas to Corpus Christi.
Epic is building a separate pipeline to move crude oil from the Permian Basin to the Port of Corpus Christi. With the project not expected to be completed until January, the company is temporarily using the natural gas liquids pipeline to move crude oil to destinations along the South Texas waterway.
