|
MOSCOW (MRC) -- A dredging barge hit a
natural gas liquids pipeline at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas early Aug. 21,
causing an explosion, reported S&P
Global with reference to sources.
"Shortly after 8 a.m. CDT today
Enterprise Products Partners ("Enterprise") experienced a release of propane
from a portion of its South Texas pipeline system at the Port of Corpus Christi.
The incident resulted in a fire and unconfirmed reports of injuries," Enterprise
said in a statement. "Initial findings indicate that the pipeline was struck by
a third-party dredging barge working in the immediate vicinity, however a full
investigation will be conducted to determine the cause."
Enterprise "has
isolated the affected segment of the pipeline," the company said.
The
explosion was caused by the dredging barge Waymon I Boyd, said a spokeswoman
from the United States Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
The US Coast Guard shut
down vessel traffic in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Inner Harbor around 8 am
Aug. 21, establishing a safety zone from the Inner Harbor Bridge at US Hwy 181
to the Viola Turning Basin.
The spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said
there was no estimate for when vessel flow would resume in the safety
zone.
The Inner Harbor channel, nicknamed Refinery Row, includes docks
and terminals for companies including Citgo, Valero, Trafigura, Buckeye, and
Plains Marketing. The channel also contains multiple bulk material
terminals.
A Valero spokesperson said the company's Corpus Christi
refineries are operating under normal conditions and no Valero employees were
impacted by the incident.
No impact was seen in refined products markets.
The US Gulf Coast is well-supplied with gasoline and distillates because of low
demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, no immediate market
impact was felt on the clean or dirty tanker markets, with the length of the
channel closure still unknown. Platts Analytics cFlow showed two Aframax tankers
and one Suezmax tanker anchored inside the Inner Harbor, and for product tankers
two Medium Range ships and one Long Range 1 tanker were shown anchored in the
area.
As MRC
wrote before, Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), through one of its
affiliates, has entered a long-term agreement with Marubeni Corp. of Japan,
under which Marubeni will offtake polymer-grade propylene (PGP) produced from a
second (PDH 2) plant currently under construction at EPP’s operations in Mont
Belvieu, Tex., for supply to global customers. Concluded on June 16, the PGP
offtake agreement is part of a long-term collaboration between EPP and Marubeni
that also includes the export of liquefied ethylene, the first 25-million lb
vessel of which loaded and sailed from EPP and Navigator Holdings Ltd.’s 50-50
joint venture marine terminal at Morgan’s Point, Tex., in early January, EPP and
Marubeni said on June 30.
We remind that in July, 2020, Enterprise
Products conducted
maintenance at its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas.
This PDH unit has the capacity of 750,000 mt/y of propylene.
Propylene is
the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According
to MRC's DataScope
report, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21%
year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted
for the main increase in imports. |
