Enterprise, Exxon Chemical Will Operate Propylene Concentrator as Joint Venture

Enterprise Products Partners LP (Houston, TX) and Exxon Chemical Co. (Houston, TX) have reached agreement in principle to form a joint venture to own and operate a new, 680,000 mt/y propylene concentration unit. Exxon began building the chemical-grade facility in March 1999 with plans to form the alliance.

Exxon will own 70% and Enterprise 30% of the venture, Baton Rouge Propylene Concentrator LLC. The unit, which is located in Port Allen, LA, across the Mississippi River from Exxon's Baton Rouge refinery and chemical plant, will open in mid-2000.

Exxon will expand polypropylene production at its Baton Route chemical complex by 275,000 mt/y in mid-2000. It has teamed with Enterprise in a 70-30 joint venture to build a propylene concentrator to supply the facility.

Enterprise will design, construct, and operate the facility. It currently operates two propylene concentrators with combined capacity of 950 million mt/y of polymer grade propylene at its Mont Belvieu, TX, complex. It owns a majority stake in both units.

Enterprise also operates and owns a share of a gas liquids fractionator with Exxon, BP Amoco plc, and Williams Midstream Natural Gas Liquids Inc.

The propylene concentrator will upgrade refinery propylene from Exxon and others into chemical grade material. Exxon plans to use the output to feed a 275,000 mt/y Baton Rouge polypropylene expansion and meet demand from contract customers, says Exxon SVP Ken N. Robertson. The polypropylene plant should come on line just as the concentrator opens in mid-2000.

"Enterprise brings value to this project through our experience as an efficient, service-oriented builder and operator of natural gas liquid and propylene processing facilities," says Enterprise president/CEO Dub Andras. The project will bolster Enterprise's presence along the Mississippi River refinery and petrochemical corridor.

Enterprise, a midstream energy service company, transports, stores and processes natural gas liquids and products. It owns and operates the nation's largest isobutane complex, some of its largest gas liquids fractionation facilities, as MTBE plant, an import/export terminal, 35 million bbl of storage capacity, and a 750-mile network of Gulf Coast pipelines.

For more information: O.S. Andras, President, Enterprise Products Partners LP, 2727 N. Loop West, Houston, TX 77008. Phone: 713-880-6500. Fax: 713-880-6668.

By Alan S. Brown