In response to growing customer demand, KMI’s liquids terminal platform now boasts 10 ship docks, 38 barge spots, 20 inbound pipelines providing connectivity to 10 regional refineries and chemical plants, 15 outbound pipelines, 14 cross-channel lines, and around 43 mill barrels of storage on the Houston Ship Channel.
KMI will invest about $125 mill on enhancements to its Pasadena Terminal and Jefferson Street Truck Rack, including:
• Increased flow rates on inbound pipeline connections and outbound dock lines, significantly reducing vessel load times and expanding effective dock capacity.
• Tank modifications that will provide for butane blending and vapour combustion capabilities on 10 storage tanks, with the option to extend those capabilities to an additional 25 tanks or more.
• Expansion of the current methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) storage and blending platform, including a dedicated cross-channel MTBE line serving vessels being loaded at Pasadena’s North Docks.
• A new, dedicated natural gasoline (C5) inbound connection, enhancing customers’ blendstock supply optionality and liquidity.
The improvements, which are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of next year, are supported by a long-term agreement with a major refiner for about 2 mill barrels of refined petroleum products storage capacity at the terminal.
In addition to the enhancements at the Pasadena Terminal, KMI will also invest more than $45 mill to develop and construct a butane-on-demand blending system for 25 tanks at its Galena Park Terminal.
This project will include construction of a 30,000-barrel butane sphere, a new inbound C4 pipeline connection, as well as tank and piping modifications to extend butane blending capabilities to 25 tanks, two ship docks, and six cross-channel pipelines. This project is supported by a long-term agreement with a midstream company and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“These projects speak to Kinder Morgan’s continued commitment to excellence and to improving our already best-in-class facilities along the Houston Ship Channel,” said John Schlosser, KMI President of Terminals. “The announced improvements only serve to enhance our position as the market-leading refined petroleum products storage hub on the US Gulf Coast.
“This offers our customers unmatched supply optionality and liquidity and modal efficiencies as they aim to maximise storage and blending economics and access domestic and global energy markets in the most cost effective manner possible,” he said.
Lithuanian terminal operator JSC Klaipedos nafta (KN) has, together with the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority (KSSA), signed a tripartite agreement on the reconstruction of KN oil terminal’s berth No. 1 with the winners of a public tender valued at €22.5 mill.
The winners were joint venture partners - UAB Tilsta and UAB Fegda.
Under the agreement, the currently unused 235 m section of berth No. 1 will be adapted for stevedoring. In addition, the adjacent ship channel will be dredged to a depth of 17 m..
Once the three planned stages of reconstruction are completed in about two years time, KN will be able to handle three tankers simultaneously at the Klaipeda oil terminal instead of only two at present.
“The market has been dictating the need for these changes for some time now – the amount of cargo is growing, new types of cargo are emerging, and customer expectations are changing,” Darius Šilenskis, KN Oil Business Director and acting CEO, said. “The new KN oil product storage tank park that is currently operating in pilot mode demonstrates this need – we are already loading a greater variety of products and testing a wider range of loading schemes. This dictates the need to develop and adapt the existing infrastructure.”
“These are extremely significant jobs that will increase the competitiveness of the Port of Klaipeda even more. Once the berths are reconstructed and a maximum depth of 17 m is ensured next to them, KN will be able to receive more and larger vessels,” Vidmantas Paukšte, Klaipeda State Seaport Authority Infrastructure Director and acting Director-General, commented.“Reconstruction of the berths is planned to be carried out in several stages, doing the work in such a way that throughput is not disturbed. In the first phase, the port authority will invest €22.52 mill.”
“In parallel with this project, the port authority is also implementing other public infrastructure improvement projects, such as pier reconstruction and dredging of the canal. All this will create even better conditions for KN to accept the largest tankers that can enter the Baltic Sea,” Paukšte explained.
A new liquid cargo jetty will be built at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
The foundation stone for the additional jetty was laid at JNPT in Mumbai on 9th August, 2019.
This project was launched to cater for the increased demand in India for liquid cargoes, such as POL, LPG, edible oil, molasses and chemicals, JNPT said.,The value of the project is estimated at Rs309 crore ($43.3 mill).
“There is an increased domestic and industrial demand for liquid commodities like LPG etc in the country,” Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said.“The present liquid cargo capacity of JNPT is around 6.5 mill tonnes per annum. The new terminal will increase this capacity by 4.5 mill tonnes per annum. This will help to better fulfil national requirements and be good for the port too.”