As crude oil pipelines from the Permian to the Gulf Coast edge closer to full utilization, it’s becoming a challenge for producers and shippers alike. Amid this capacity crunch, converting Enterprise’s Midland to ECHO 2 (M2E-2) pipeline back to crude oil service can’t come quickly enough. In today’s RBN blog — the latest in our series on Permian crude oil pipelines — we discuss Enterprise’s crude oil footprint from West Texas to Houston.
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In Part 1 and Part 3 of this series, we looked at the Longhorn and BridgeTex pipelines, respectively, and what ONEOK has accomplished with these systems since it acquired Magellan Midstream in 2023 (see Tulsa Time). In Part 2 and Part 4, we looked at the EPIC Crude and Gray Oak pipelines, respectively, to the Corpus Christi area, which have both been operating at full capacity. Today, we’ll cover Enterprise’s Midland to ECHO (M2E) pipelines.
Enterprise has two major oil pipelines from the Permian to the Gulf Coast — soon to be three (again)! To the Houston area, the long-hauls include the company’s Midland to ECHO 1 (M2E-1, pink line in Figure 1 below) and Midland to ECHO 3 (M2E-3, which represents the company’s 29% undivided interest in the Wink to Webster — or W2W — system shown in orange). Together, these give Enterprise 1.07 MMb/d of crude takeaway capacity. Further, Enterprise’s Midland to ECHO 2 (M2E-2; blue line) will soon be returned to crude oil service. (More on that in a moment.) M2E-1 and M2E-2 twin each other (meaning they follow the same path), originating at Midland and flowing to Sealy (black dot west of ECHO). Then, at Sealy, M2E-1 and M2E-2 utilize Enterprise’s Rancho II pipeline (green line) to its ECHO terminal (pink tank icon). While the ExxonMobil-operated W2W follows the same path for a portion of the line, it flows from Midland directly to ECHO, bypassing Sealy and the Rancho II line. (Enterprise is also a non-operating JV partner in Basin Pipeline from the Permian to Cushing, which we’ll discuss in a future blog.)
Figure 1. Enterprise Permian Outbound Crude Oil Long-Haul Pipelines. Source: RBN
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About the song
“Open Arms” was written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain and appears as the fifth song on side two of Journey's seventh studio album, Escape. It also appeared as the 10th song on the 1981 soundtrack album for the animated science fantasy film, Heavy Metal. The soft-rock ballad was released as a single in January 1982 and went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified 4x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song has been covered by many artists, including Mariah Carey, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, and Dolly Parton. Personnel on the record were: Steve Perry (lead vocals), Neal Schon (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Ross Valory (bass, backing vocals), and Steve Smith (drums, percussion, backing vocals).
The album, Escape, was recorded between April and June 1981 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA, and produced by Mike Stone and Kevin Elson. It was the band's first album with keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who replaced founding member Gregg Rolie. Released in July 1981, it went to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified Diamond (10 million) by the RIAA. Five singles were released from the LP.
Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973 by Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Russ Valory, George Tickner and Prairie Prince. The most popular version of the band included Schon, Rolie, and Valory, along with vocalist Steve Perry and drummer Steve Smith. They have released 15 studio albums, five live albums, a soundtrack album, 11 compilation albums, two EPs, and 52 singles. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Eighteen members have passed through the band since its inception. Founding member Neal Schon, along with Jonathan Cain, Dean Castronovo, Jason Derlatka, Todd Jensen and Arnel Pineda form the current lineup of Journey. They continue to record and are currently touring the U.S. on weekends.
