Epic Midstream Holdings LP has taken final investment decision (FID) for a subsidiary of Epic Y-Grade LP to build a new fractionator at its Robstown, Tex., fractionation complex, near Corpus Christi.
The new 110,000-b/d greenfield fractionator will be the second at the complex, which currently consists of 70,000 b/d of operational fractionation capacity, as well as the operator’s first greenfield fractionator, which is still under construction, Epic said.
With the first 100,000-b/d greenfield fractionator due for mechanical completion in late first-quarter 2020, Epic will have a total fractionation capacity of 270,000 b/d at Robstown once the second fractionator is completed.
A timeframe for start-up of the second fractionator was not disclosed, but the project is due for mechanical completion in third-quarter 2021, Epic said in a December presentation.
Epic said the decision to sanction the second greenfield fractionator resulted from the operator’s continued success securing fixed-fee multiyear supply contracts with several gathering and processing companies in the Permian basin.
In conjunction with reaching FID on the new fractionator, Epic said it also upsized its existing Term Loan B by $150 million to finance the project, bringing Epic’s total borrowing base to $950 million.
“We continue to execute on our strategic plan of bringing NGL supply for fractionation in the Corpus Christi marketplace,” said Phillip Mezey, Epic’s chief executive officer, noting that its customers value Epic’s infrastructure as a strategic alternative to Mont Belvieu, Tex.
Epic Y-Grade was formed in 2017 to build and operate the Epic Y-Grade pipeline, a 700-mile, 24-in. NGL pipeline linking NGL reserves in the Permian and Eagle Ford to US Gulf Coast refiners, petrochemical companies, and export markets.
Epic began interim crude operations in August 2019, using the 24-in. OD Y-grade pipeline, which can ship up to 400,000 b/d from Crane, Tex., to terminals in Corpus Christi and Ingleside. Once the planned 30-in. OD crude pipeline is completed in first-quarter 2020, Epic will have initial capacity to transport 600,000 b/d. The crude pipeline is expandable up to 900,000 b/d (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2019).
