Enterprise Products Partners LP (Houston) has completed construction of the Beaumont, Texas to Lake Charles, La. segment of its Aegis pipeline, which is now ready to deliver ethane to additional Gulf Coast petrochemical facilities. The new 48-mile segment, along with the initial 60-mile segment currently in service, provides ethane supplies to petrochemical facilities between Mont Belvieu and Lake Charles.

The final leg of the 270-mile Aegis system will extend the pipeline from Lake Charles to the Mississippi River and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Combined with Enterprise’s existing South Texas system, Aegis will provide shippers with access to a 500-mile ethane header system between Corpus Christi, Texas and the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The Aegis pipeline is supported by customer commitments in excess of 300,000 bbld that
ramp up over the next four years. The capacity of the pipeline can be expanded to about 400,000 bbld with additional pumps.

“Access to cost-advantaged ethane as a feedstock will be vital as the petrochemical industry along the Gulf Coast is expected to grow substantially over the next five years,” said A.J. (Jim) Teague, COO of Enterprise’s general partner. “Aegis will serve as a major ethane supply artery along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, which will include approximately 20 petrochemical facilities representing more than 90% of the nation’s ethylene capacity by 2020. Seamless connectivity to our storage facilities at Mont Belvieu and our existing integrated midstream network has generated strong customer interest in the Aegis project.”

Enterprise Products’ Mont Belvieu complex is the terminus for more than 3 MMbbld of natural gas liquids pipeline supply capacity, and is connected to more than 2 MMbbld of NGL fractionation capacity and more than 110 MMbbl of Enterprise-owned salt dome storage capacity. With access to such a comprehensive network of integrated infrastructure, Aegis offers flow assurance and market choices to producers while providing consuming customers enhanced reliability and supply choices.