HOUSTON (ICIS)–The first very large ethane
carrier (VLEC) was loaded at US Energy Transfer
and Chinese Satellite Petrochemicals’s Orbit
export terminal in Nederland, Texas, according
to a press release from Energy Transfer.
The vessel was loaded with more than 911,000
bbl of ethane destined for Satellite’s
Lianyungang ethane cracker in northeastern
Jiangsu Province, China.
The Orbit terminal, one of only three US ethane
export terminals, includes a 1.2m bbl ethane
storage tank and an estimated 180,000 bbl/day
ethane refrigeration facility.
Under the joint venture with Satellite, Energy
Transfer is the operator of Orbit’s assets,
which also include a newly constructed 20-inch
pipeline originating at Energy Transfer’s
fractionation and storage facilities in Mont
Belvieu, Texas, for ethane deliveries to the
Nederland export terminal as well as domestic
markets in the region.
In association with Orbit, Energy Transfer also
completed its build-out of wholly owned
infrastructure at Mont Belvieu to supply ethane
to Orbit’s pipeline, and at Nederland to load
the ethane onto VLECs.
Under separate agreements, Energy Transfer will
provide Satellite with approximately 150,000
bbl/day of ethane under a long-term,
demand-based agreement, along with storage and
marketing services.
Ethane is one of the most important building
blocks for the petrochemical industry, used to
produce ethylene and derivatives polyethylene
(PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and ethylene
glycol (EG), among other products.
Thumbnail image shows a test tube
containing PE. Photo by Al Greenwood
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