Howard Energy Partners

On its surface, the development of small-diameter crude oil gathering pipeline systems in the Permian may seem like a ho-hum topic. In fact, though, these systems are at the heart of critically important strategies to ensure the reliable, low-cost flow of crude to multiple takeaway pipelines out of the basin, and thereby enhance the oil’s value and minimize financial risk. A case in point is the 50-mile-plus, 100-Mb/d-capacity gathering system that a producer/midstreamer joint venture has been building in the Delaware Basin along the Texas/New Mexico line. Today, we continue our series on Permian gathering systems with a look at WPX Energy and Howard Energy Partners’ new pipes in New Mexico’s Eddy County and Texas’s Loving and Reeves counties.

Mexico’s need to import increasing amounts of transportation and cooking fuels--mostly gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)—from the U.S. is spurring an infrastructure development boom on both sides of the Rio Grande. Over the past few years this has been a frequently reoccurring pattern:   A fast growing market for hydrocarbons emerges, and the need to efficiently move increasing volumes of product from points A and B to points C, D and E quickly becomes urgent. All hands are called on-deck: trucks, railroads, barges, pipelines—plus storage facilities and distribution terminals. Today, we consider the latest initiatives to deliver gasoline, diesel, jet-kero and LPG from Texas to its southern neighbor.

Mexican production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel continues to fall and Mexico’s imports of these refined petroleum products from the U.S. are rising fast to keep pace with increasing demand. Longer term upgrade projects to increase Mexican refinery transport fuel are finally underway. But before refinery upgrades make a dent in imports, two ambitious refined-products pipeline/terminals projects will make it easier and more efficient to move large volumes of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Texas refineries into Mexico.  Today, we update our coverage of fast-moving developments in Mexico-U.S. hydrocarbon trading.

Natural gas exports to Mexico are on a tear, and there’s every reason to believe the market will continue to grow. In essence, parts of the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin are becoming the go-to fuel source for new power plants and industrial facilities south of the border, as evidenced by a Howard Energy Partners plan to build new, connecting pipelines to deliver large volumes of gas directly from South Texas to emerging demand centers in and around Monterrey, Mexico. Howard’s also been addressing some of Texas’s gas gathering and processing needs. Today, we consider the latest plan to add gas pipeline capacity across the Rio Grande.