HOUSTON—EPIC Midstream Holdings LP has begun filling a new 400,000 barrel per day oil pipeline that stretches from the Permian Basin to the U.S. Gulf Coast and will start exporting from its own South Texas terminal by the end of this year, President Brian Freed said in an interview on July 29.
The San Antonio pipeline operator has also begun construction on a second dock at its export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, that next year will be capable of loading tankers that carry up to 1 million barrels, known as Suezmax tankers, Freed said.
RELATED:
EPIC Announces Appointment Of Brian Freed As President
In the third quarter, EPIC will make the first deliveries into Corpus Christi on the new pipeline, one of three new pipelines helping to ease a crude oil bottleneck that has weighed on prices in the Permian of West Texas and New Mexico for more than a year.
Freed said the second dock would be completed in 2020 but did not say exactly when. He did not disclose the terminal’s expected export and storage capacity once it is completed.
EPIC will begin loading smaller Aframax tankers, which carry around 500,000 barrels, in Corpus Christi later this year.
“We anticipate it will clear all the barrels that we have directed at the facility right now and we have the ability to expand,” Freed said.
Crude flows will ramp up each month after the start of interim service as the company adds more storage tanks in the Permian and its facilities at Gardensdale and Robstown, Texas.
“We’ll have tanks coming on every month,” Freed said. “We’ll be bringing on different tankage at different locations all along the way.”
Last week, EPIC said it would cut initial rates for interim service on the pipeline in half to $2.50 per barrel, according to a regulatory filing.
The new rate was “more in line with market conditions,” and will “keep the pipeline flowing at a level we’re happy with in terms of volume in the interim period,” Freed said.
“The arbitrage opportunities don’t really support a $5 differential” for prices between the Permian and the U.S. Gulf Coast, he said.
Recommended Reading
Burgum: US Electrons are ‘Mission Critical’ in Cyber War with China
2025-03-28 - Natural gas will play a key role in feeding energy to tech providers like Microsoft Corp. as China innovates in the AI arms race at breakneck speed, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at CERAWeek by S&P Global.
DOE Approves Non-FTA Permit Extension for Golden Pass LNG
2025-03-05 - Golden Pass LNG will become the ninth U.S. LNG export facility following the U.S. Department of Energy’s approval for an extension of its non-free trade agreement permit.
Trump Emergency Move Aims to Cut Approval Times for Energy Projects to 28 Days
2025-04-23 - The Trump administration on April 23 said it would implement an emergency permitting process for energy and mining projects on federal land.
US Halts Construction of Equinor’s Empire Wind Project Offshore NY
2025-04-16 - In a post on X, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said construction activity is being stopped “until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
Segrist: Permit Reform Rumbles as US Seeks to ‘Unleash American Energy’
2025-03-19 - The White House has called for changes to a heavily criticized system, but new rules require a lot more work.