20 B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Ports & Storage
July/August 2019
Howard
completes
Port Arthur,
Corpus
expansions
S
Howard Energy Partners’ recently expanded terminal in Port Arthur, Texas. (Photo: Business Wire)
an Antonio-based Howard Energy Partners (HEP) has
completed the expansions of its bulk liquid terminals in
Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas.
The completion of these projects increases HEP’s Gulf Coast
terminal storage capacity to 2.6 million barrels with three ship
docks, three barge docks, unit train loading capacity for up to two
trains per day, and direct pipeline connectivity through wholly-
owned pipelines to seven refi neries. HEP began operating terminals
in mid-2014.
The Port Arthur facility expansion consisted of 12 new tanks, four
butane bullets, two barge docks, one ship dock and a 6.5-mile,
bidirectional pipeline. With the completion of these additional
assets, HEP is able to blend gasoline with up to six separate
components at delivery rates of up to 40,000 barrels per hour, to
meet specifi c regional and international quality specifi cations. This
allows customers to optimise the value of the molecules specifi c to
each market.
The facility now consists of: 16 tanks with 1.35 million barrels of
storage capacity; four butane bullets, with a total capacity of
360,000 gallons; 8.8 miles of rail track with the capacity to load one
unit train per day consisting of up to 94 cars, and the track
capability to handle up to fi ve unit trains simultaneously within the
facility; three barge docks, all with vapour control; one ship dock,
capable of loading ships at rates of up to 40,000 barrels per hour,
allowing for the loading of one 500,000-750,000-barrel ship every
other day; and one bidirectional pipeline.
Permits and engineering for a second ship dock are nearing
completion.
HEP acquired a majority stake in the Port Arthur facility in 2015.
Located on approximately 450 acres of land on Taylor Basin and
Taylor Bayou, the facility is 13 miles from the Gulf of Mexico via the
Sabine Neches Waterway, with inland barge access to the terminal
via the Intracoastal Waterway. In 2017, the company reconfi gured
the assets from a railcar-to-barge crude oil operation, to a barge-to-
railcar refi ned products operation. The terminal can handle a variety
of bulk liquids including refi ned motor fuels, crude oil, and
condensate.
In Corpus Christi, HEP recently contracted with an existing
customer to load additional unit trains at the terminal, bound for
new destinations in Mexico. As part of the contract, HEP is acting as
an agent to assist with oversight of the engineering, procurement
and construction of a new receiving terminal in northern Mexico.
Once completed later this year, the receiving terminal will increase
the utilisation of HEP’s 65,000 bpd rail loading facility. HEP currently
delivers approximately 35,000 bpd of refi ned petroleum products by
unit train to locations in central Mexico, including the cities of San
Jose Iturbide and Irapuato within the state of Guanajuato.
Sited on 41 acres within the Port of Corpus Christi, HEP’s terminal
currently consists of six tanks with 480,000 barrels of capacity, an
MR Class ship dock, a 12-ins pipeline with connectivity to six local
refi neries, and unit train loading facilities capable of loading one
unit train per day.
The terminal is expandable up to 2.5 million barrels of total
storage and is currently permitted for immediate expansion up to
1.2 million barrels.
Additionally, HEP and Port of Corpus Christi jointly funded the
engineering and permitting of a new Suezmax class dock, which will
be capable of moving refi ned products, crude oil, condensates,
NGLs, and LPGs.
“The substantial expansions at our Port Arthur and Corpus Christi
facilities signify HEP’s commitment to designing and constructing
fully-engineered facilities that are tailored to meet the exact needs
of our customers,” said HEP co-founder and president Brad Bynum.
“We currently have more than 470 acres for additional Gulf Coast
expansion projects, including signifi cant water frontage. We will
continue to work closely with our customers to understand their
needs and evaluate growth projects that create benefi cial results for
all participants within the supply chain.”
www.howardenergypartners.com