Posted on June 14, 2023
Enterprise Products Partners’ Sea Port crude oil export terminal off the coast of Texas could begin operations between the second half of 2026 and early 2027, the pipeline operator’s co-CEO said on Thursday.
According to Reuters, Enterprise Co-CEO Jim Teague disclosed the proposed Sea Port Oil Terminal’s start date at the recent RBN Energy export conference in Houston. Previous announcements had said that the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) would start operations by late 2025.
The proposed SPOT project would be comprised of a fixed-platform port marine terminal located approximately 30 nautical miles off the coast of Freeport, Texas, in approximately 115 feet of water. The platform will be connected to the onshore storage facility by two 36-in., bi-directional pipelines.
The project aims to improve the efficiency of oil exports from the Texas coast, where smaller tankers currently ferry oil from coastal depots to larger ships that wait in deeper water, miles offshore. SPOT is designed to load VLCCs and other crude oil tankers at rates up to 85,000 barrels per hour.
Last November, Enterprise announced that the SPOT project had received a Record of Decision (ROD) from the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration in accordance with the provisions of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974. The receipt of the ROD is a significant milestone in the process to obtain a license for SPOT under the Deepwater Port Act. The ROD laid out a series of final steps for the Sea Port Oil Terminal to receive a license and begin construction.
