May 14, 2013 [OPIS] - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMEP) will invest some $106 million to buy some 20 acres of land adjacent to its Pasadena, Texas, terminal along the Houston Ship Channel, the company said Monday.
This acreage will be used to support a future crude condensate and refined products terminal capable of handling 10, 150,000-barrel tanks with a connection to the Explorer Pipeline, KMEP said in its statement. Condensates typically compete with natural gasoline for use as diluent in the heavy crude markets.
Kinder Moragn’s Pasadena terminal handles petroleum products and segregated chemicals among others, and can store nearly 19 million barrels of supplies.
Also, KMEP will build nine new tanks with a storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels at its Galena Park terminal along the Houston Ship Channel under long-term customer agreements under this project, the company said in a press statement.
Kinder Moragn’s Galena Park terminal handles petroleum products, chemicals, lube oil, ethanol and biodiesel, among other products, KMEP said. It also receives supplies via pipelines from Equistar, Texmark, Valero, KMT Cross Channels, Targa Resources, ExxonMobil Chemical, BP Channelview Pipelines, Praxair and Houston Refining. It has a storage capacity of some 7.5 million barrels.
KMEP will also construct a new barge dock that is expected to help relieve current barge congestion in the Houston Ship Channel. The new barge dock would enhance existing infrastructure at the Pasadena terminal and would provide extra capacity to handle up to 50 barges per month, it said.