July 22, 2011 [OPIS] - Kinder Morgan is adding 80,000 bbl of additional ethanol storage at its Deer Park Rail Terminal along the Houston Ship Channel, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed to OPIS.
In April, the company completed construction of the terminal and related ethanol handling assets. The $19 million project included building a new ethanol unit-train facility capable of handling 14,000 b/d, with space for multiple unit trains, an offloading rail rack for unit-trains of approximately 100 railcars and an 80,000-bbl storage tank.
“The terminal has been well received by the ethanol industry and to be able to handle additional trains, we are adding the new 80MB tank,” explained Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Emily Thompson. “Having two, 80MB tanks will allow us to clear back to back trains quicker and handle the additional ethanol volumes,” she noted.
The additional 80,000 bbl of storage will be in service by the end of the year, Thompson noted. The terminal has rail access through Union Pacific, Burlington Northern and Kansas City Southern Railway via the Port Terminal Railroad Association, she explained.
“This is the first true ethanol unit train in the Houston Ship Channel and number six in the Kinder Morgan system,” Thompson added.
