Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP) has placed into service its Shin Oak natural gas liquids mainline from Orla in Reeves County, Tex., to its NGL fractionation and storage complex at the Mont Belvieu hub (OGJ Online, Apr. 10, 2017). The 24-in. pipeline has an initial capacity of 250,000 b/d and provides takeaway for increasing NGL production from multiple basins, including the Permian, where NGL volumes are forecast to nearly double within the next 3 years, the company said.
Completion of the related 20-in. Waha lateral is scheduled for this year’s second quarter. Supported by long-term customer commitments, the Shin Oak project will ultimately provide as much as 550,000 b/d of capacity, which is expected to be available in this year’s fourth quarter.
Once the pipeline is complete, NGLs for Shin Oak will be sourced primarily from EPP’s Orla gas processing complex, which began operations in 2018, as well as dedicated acreage from the Alpine High development (OGJ Online, May 7, 2018). A third train at Orla is expected to begin service in this year’s second quarter, followed by EPP’s Mentone gas processing plant, expected to begin service in first-quarter 2020. The facilities will give EPP more than 1.6 bcfd of gas processing capacity and more than 250,000 b/d of NGL production capabilities in the Permian basin.
Complementing EPP’s Permian basin assets is the addition of NGL fractionation capacity at its Gulf Coast facilities. The projects are expected to increase the partnership’s systemwide fractionation capacity to some 1.5 million b/d by second-quarter 2020 (OGJ Online, Oct. 31, 2018).
