Permian-to-Houston Crude Oil Flows Fall for Second Consecutive Month

Permian Basin crude oil flows to Houston dropped in April for the second consecutive month, following six months of growth that culminated in a record set in February 2024. April volumes totaled 2.22 MMb/d (see blue line on the chart below), marking a 285 Mb/d decline from the previous month. With pipelines to Corpus Christi essentially full, most of the production growth in the Permian has been directed towards Houston. However, the recent drop is largely driven by Enterprise’s conversion of its Midland-to-ECHO II (ME II) pipeline to NGL service earlier this year, which temporarily removed 220 Mb/d of crude oil capacity from the Permian to Houston corridor.