Energy midstreamer/transporter/storage giant Energy Transfer LP is opening an office in Beijing, looking to capitalize on China’s demand for ethane and other natural gas liquids.
By opening its first office outside the U.S., Energy Transfer hopes to better leverage the increasing business opportunities in the export of energy products to China and other Asian markets, Kallanish Energy understands.
“This is an exciting milestone in the history of our partnership,” said Mackie McCrea, president and chief commercial officer of Energy Transfer. “We see this office as the foundation for developing successful relationships that will be mutually beneficial for both the U.S. and the China energy markets.”
Last year, Energy Transfer announced a joint venture with China-based Satellite Petrochemical to facilitate the export of ethane to China. Orbit Gulf Coast NGL Exports (Orbit) is currently constructing a pipeline that will transport ethane from Energy Transfer’s Mont Belvieu, Texas, fractionation and storage facilities to a new ethane terminal adjacent to Energy Transfer’s Nederland, Texas, NGL facility.
Roughly 150,000 barrels per day of ethane under a long-term, demand-based agreement will be exported to Satellite’s ethane cracking facilities in China.
On March 25, Energy Transfer announced it signed a Project Framework Agreement with Shell U.S. LNG to further develop a large-scale LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Lake Charles project is a 50/50 venture between Energy Transfer and Shell. The project is proposed to convert Energy Transfer’s existing Lake Charles LNG import and regasification terminal to an LNG export facility with a liquefaction capacity of 16.45 million metric tonnes per annum (Mtpa) for export to customers in China and other global markets.
The project is fully permitted, uses existing infrastructure and benefits from abundant natural gas supply and proximity to major pipeline infrastructure, including Energy Transfer’s U.S. pipeline network.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.
