Cactus I

The oil pipelines from the Permian to Corpus Christi have been very crowded, but two recent expansion projects are adding nearly 200 Mb/d of capacity to Corpus Christi, providing a bit of breathing room. Gray Oak wrapped up a two-part 120 Mb/d expansion in May, and Plains All American completed its 75 Mb/d expansion of Cactus III (formerly EPIC), which just went into service in August. 

Houston and Corpus Christi have been locked in a battle for the top spot as the primary outlet for Permian crude. Lately, the pendulum has been swinging toward Corpus — and not by accident. 

Houston and Corpus Christi have been locked in a battle for the top spot as the primary outlet for Permian crude. Lately, the pendulum has been swinging toward Corpus — and not by accident. 

The original Cactus Pipeline was a pioneer in moving large volumes of crude oil from the Permian and the Eagle Ford to the Corpus Christi area, which quickly became a leader in U.S. crude exports. Cactus II, an even longer and larger pipeline that came online in H2 2019, only added to Corpus Christi’s export prominence. But the competition with Permian-to-Houston pipelines is fiercer than ever and negotiated rates on pipelines to the Texas Gulf Coast are under pressure. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the Cactus I and Cactus II pipelines and their significance.