Posted on 03/06/2013 7:18:05 AM PST by thackney
Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan has entered a joint venture to build the “first major crude by rail destination facility” in the Houston area — a 210,000 barrel-per-day project expected to come on line in the first quarter of 2014.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Watco Co. LLC have struck a long-term agreement with Mercuria Energy Trading Co. to build the project at Greens Point Industrial Park on the Houston Shipping Channel.
The KW Express venture will open the way for Mercuria to source crude from various locations, including the Bakken shale area, Western Canada, Cushing, Okla., and West Texas.
The crude will be delivered by rail to the shipping channel for distribution to refineries by pipeline and barges.
It will have the capacity to unload and load up to three unit trains per day of crude oil and condensate as well as provide for up to 100,000 bpd of barge loading capacity.
KW Express will own 85 percent of the project and, along with Watco, construct and operate the facility once it is completed. Mercuria will own the remaining 15 percent.
Counting on continuing spread
Kinder Morgan Terminals President John Schlosser said the project will “provide U.S. and Canadian producers with much needed market access and optionality to deliver their crude oil production.” Traders expect the crude-by-rail plan will count on a continuing wide price spread between Brent and West Texas Intermediate crudes that will offer an incentive to move WTI-priced crudes to the Gulf Coast.
But some analysts are withholding judgment pending the introduction of TransCanada’s 700,000 bpd Cushing to Nederland, Texas, pipeline and expansion of the Enterprise Product Partners-Enbridge Seaway line to 850,000 bpd, both scheduled to start service in 2014.
Mercuria was launched in 2004 and has become one of the largest integrated energy and commodity trading companies in the world. It trades from hubs in Geneva, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Chicago and Houston.
This is very bad, and why a pipeline is needed. The first derailment will shut down ALL petrochemical rail transport, due to the wailing of the greenies.
Not sure about Kinder Morgan.
Kinder Morgan is one of the largest US pipeline companies for oil/gas in the US. They have been pretty stable in this market.
I suspect they see this as a way to capture some of the business being forced on the US with regulations and NIMBYs.
Building rail lines for trains that use oil to transport that oil that could be transported by pipeline.
The one primary person benefiting from this is who? Why it is Warren Buffett; which means that the kenyan dictator fund will also receive its cut.
FUBO & FAD, down with the Democrat Party.
Correction, not just one of the largest, they are the largest.
They own an interest in or operate approximately 75,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals.
http://www.kindermorgan.com/about_us/about_us_corp_profile.cfm
All due to Warren Buffett BNSF railcars of oil— and his preventing the building of a far more efficient Keystone Pipeline.... no trucks, no rails, no derailing no engineers, no labor unions to shut the flow. All that would be needed would be to guard the pipe. Constant flow, and an annual pipe “pig” run to check for stress/metal fatigue.
One corrupt lying bastard of a present_dent continues to rip us off and cause us to become a 3rd world nation. And we cannot mutually find the wherewithal to remove him by impeachment, such is the fear? Why the fear?
RJS1950, I believe you hit the nail squarley. Building the rr will have all the help the wh & epa can give. The pipeline will survive, but with no help from the wh or epa. There’s no money in the pipeline for the pockets of nobama nor buffet, just the American workers.
If “green” is our criteria, a pipeline is way greener than shipping by rail.
Kinda ironic:
Berkshire's BNSF to test using natural gas to power locomotives
No it won't. FAR worse incidents than a crude oil spill from a train wreck have already happened....multiple times over, with far worse chemicals. None of that has had any effect at all on "shutting down petrochemical rail transport".
I looked at the UP system map, and didn’t see any local track in the Dakotas :(. I know that the UP has been shipping sand and supplies for fracking, but they must be transshipping through a short line or leasing competitor (BNSF) track. UP has a huge presense in Texas, especially around Houston, Ft. Worth, and along the coast. I know a pipeline is the ideal answer, and shipping by rail is an expensive second, but don’t beat up the railroaders (except BNSF), until the Keystone can be built.
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