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.
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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