U.S. waterborne exports of ethane have soared this year with record volumes out of Enterprise’s Morgans Point and Energy Transfer’s Nederland terminals on the Texas Gulf Coast. Ethane exports from the two marine terminals reached a peak of nearly 400 Mb/d in March, which is about 95% of nameplate capacity. Shipments out of the Gulf Coast for the year are on pace to average over 360 Mb/d, an increase of about 20% from 2022.
As shown on the chart below, the two existing ethane export facilities on the Gulf Coast have a total capacity of 420 Mb/d. Enterprise’s Morgans Point terminal with a nameplate capacity of 240 Mb/d (blue area) and Energy Transfer's (Orbit J/V) Nederland terminal with a capacity of 180 Mb/d (orange area). But there is a boat load of new capacity on the way with both Enterprise and Energy Transfer recently announcing export expansion projects. Enterprise is first planning to convert one of its 120 Mb/d ethane refrigeration trains at Morgans Point into a flex unit capable of running either ethane or ethylene in the second half of 2024. The company is also installing a 900,000-barrel refrigerated ethane tank at the facility which will increase loading rates from 10 MBPH (barrels/hour) to 45 MBPH. Energy Transfer will join the fray with a capital project that is expected to add about 250 Mb/d of NGL export capacity at their Nederland terminal in mid-2025. We estimate that ~50%, or 125 Mb/d, of the new capacity will be earmarked for ethane. Not to be outdone, Enterprise also announced it is building a new export facility in Orange County, Texas. Enterprise’s Neches River NGL terminal will include a 120 Mb/d ethane only refrigeration train, a 900 Mbbl ethane tank (2H 2025 start-up) and a flex train capable of refrigerating 180 Mb/d of ethane or 360 Mb/d propane (1H 2026 start-up). When all the dust settles in 2026 ethane export capacity on the Gulf Coast will be over 800 Mb/d, nearly double where it is today.
