Howard Energy Partners (HEP) executed an agreement with a subsidiary of MPLX LP on Dec. 29 to purchase the Javelina Facility located in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Javelina is a treating and fractionation plant that extracts olefins, hydrogen and NGL from the gas streams produced by local refineries, creating purity products that are then sold to local markets on behalf of its refiner-customers.

HEP agreed to acquire the facility for an undisclosed sum. The company expects to close the acquisition in early 2021.

“The Javelina facility is a multi-generational asset linked to stable, demand-driven refinery activity, further supporting our long-term growth strategy and diversification into new services and markets,” said Mike Howard, chairman and CEO of HEP who added the acquisition will broaden the company’s existing footprint in the Corpus Christi market.

The Javelina facility has a long history of reliably producing a wide range of product streams including hydrogen, ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, mixed butane and other pentanes+ for use in the energy and petrochemical markets.

Javelina is connected by pipeline to all of the major refineries in the Corpus Christi area and provides a critical service to help ensure the refineries’ productive capabilities. Additionally, excess capacity at the facility provides the opportunity for growth in the future, HEP said in a company release.

Based in San Antonio, HEP is an independent midstream energy company, owning and operating natural gas and crude oil gathering and transportation pipelines, natural gas processing plants, liquid storage terminals, deepwater dock and terminal facilities, rail, terminal and transloading facilities and other related midstream assets in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Mexico.

HEP also operates a bulk liquid terminal facility in the Port of Corpus Christi. Operations of the Corpus Christi facility include the storage, blending and unit-train loading of two grades of gasoline—ULSD and gasoline blend stocks from various local refineries—for ultimate delivery to global markets.