Martin Midstream Partners LP, Kilgore, Texas, (Nasdaq: MMLP) plans to build a new terminal at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas to receive crude oil from the Eagle Ford shale via the recently announced Harvest Gardendale Pipeline. The terminal will be built adjacent to Martin Midstream's existing terminal at the Port according to a new long-term lease the company signed. In conjunction with the new terminal construction, Martin Midstream also announced the execution of a long-term contract with an undisclosed major integrated oil company for the initial capacity at the terminal.

The partnership will construct over 300,000 barrels of crude oil storage at the new facility with the ability to expand the capacity by an additional 600,000 barrels. The terminal will be connected via a 24-inch diameter pipeline to both a barge dock and a deep-water marine tanker dock at the Port. A marine delivery system will be constructed with initial loading rates up to 15,000 barrels per hour. As crude production and storage volumes increase, Martin Midstream will expand the capacity of the delivery system to 30,000 barrels per hour. The total project cost is estimated at $25 million and is an anticipated to be in service by late 2011. Initial receipts of crude oil will arrive via truck until the Harvest Gardendale Pipeline becomes operational in the first half of 2012.

"We are pleased to announce additional Port of Corpus Christi infrastructure and a long-term terminalling agreement with a major integrated oil company," says Ruben Martin, president and CEO of Martin Midstream GP LLC, the company's general partner. "Martin Midstream Partners, with these new assets, will seek to meet terminalling demand from the growing Eagle Ford shale production. This new facility is well-positioned for significant fee-based cash flow growth as Eagle Ford activity continues to gain momentum."