March 12, 2014 [OPIS] - TransMontaigne said on Tuesday that it is focused on expansion despite the ongoing exit of Morgan Stanley from the physical oil markets.
TransMontaigne has plans for terminal storage capacity expansion at its Collins, Miss., terminal, BOSTCO terminal on the Gulf Coast in Brownsville, Texas, TransMontaigne executives said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.
At Collins, TransMontaigne is in discussions with a couple of parties to add about 1 million bbl of storage capacity, which would be mostly jet and distillate. This project could begin in 2014.
The Collins terminal is part of TransMontaigne’s 22-terminal Southeast network, which has a total storage capacity of 9.314 million bbl.
At Brownsville, TransMontaigne is looking at adding new naphtha storage capacity for its Mexican joint venture partner, PMI. Details on the capacity expansion are sketchy.
The 2.2-million-bbl capacity Brownsville terminal handles gasoline, diesel, VGO, LPG, asphalt, lube, vegetable oil and chemicals. At BOSTCO terminal, which was commissioned last year, TransMontaigne is reviewing a Phase 2 expansion proposal for about 3 million bbl of storage. The new capacity will be equally split between distillate and black oil.
The BOSTCO terminal project is a joint venture between Kinder Morgan (55%) and TransMontaigne (45%). Of the total 7.1-million-bbl storage capacity, 40% or 2.84 million bbl was ready for service in the first day of operation in October 2013.
The BOSTCO terminal handles residual fuel, VGO, carbon black and slurry oil.
TransMontaigne said that the BOSTCO terminal continues to see Phase 1 and Phase 1a moving towards full operations.
As of March 1, that terminal had 33 of the 51 tanks in Phase 1 in service and generating revenue.
The balance will kick in at a rate of about eight tanks per month and Phase 1 will be complete and in full operation by June of this year. Phase 1a, which is for distillate tanks totaling about 900,000 bbl of capacity, is under construction and on schedule to be completed by the year’s end.
Meanwhile, TransMontaigne said that a change of control at the terminaling and transportation company could benefit the business in the longer term.
Representatives of Morgan Stanley, which indirectly controls the general partner of TLP, announced in December 2013 that it is currently exploring strategic options for its stake in TransMontaigne Inc., the indirect parent of TransMontaigne GP LLC, the general partner of TransMontaigne.
