Houston Terminal News

Odfjell Terminals US (OTUS) reports it has completed the construction and commissioning of its Bay 13 at the Houston Terminal (OTH), adding nine new tanks, with a combined capacity of 204,000 barrels. The new tanks are a combination of stainless steel and carbon steel, and each tank has been engineered with positive pressure systems and full automation, Odfjell said. The newly commissioned bay is specifically designed for the storage needs of specialty chemical products, the company added."As we continue to invest in our assets…

Vopak Moda Houston, LLC announced that its marine terminal in the Port of Houston is fully operational. Formed in 2016, Vopak Moda Houston is a joint venture between Royal Vopak and Moda Midstream. Located in Houston’s refining and petrochemical corridor and in close proximity to multiple ammonia, hydrogen and nitrogen pipelines, Vopak Moda Houston is the first greenfield terminal development in the Port of Houston in more than a decade.Designed to handle very large gas carriers (VLGC)…

The first bulk U.S. soybean cargo from the Texas Gulf Coast in about six months was loaded and shipped last week from a Cargill Inc terminal, in a sign of shifting trade flows in the wake of Hurricane Ida, traders and shipping sources said.The vessel Spar Rigel was loaded early last week with about 55,000 tonnes of soybeans at Cargill's Houston terminal, an outlet that typically loads mostly wheat and sorghum grown nearby, according to a shipping vessel lineup seen by Reuters.The uncommon shipment is the first of several soybean cargoes expected to load at Cargill's Texas facility this autumn after one of the company's two terminals at the Louisiana Gulf Coast - the country's top outlet for corn and soy shipped down the Mississippi River - was severely damaged by Ida on Aug.

U.S. crude exports from Corpus Christi, Texas, have surged to a record in recent weeks, often surpassing hubs such as Houston and Beaumont, Texas, thanks to faster-than-expected infrastructure additions.The infrastructure boom at Corpus Christi helped push crude exports there to a weekly record of 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in late December, more than doubling levels that held for the first eight months of last year, and above Houston's 2019 peak of 1.36 million bpd, according to vessel-tracking firm ClipperData.The heavy flows suggest that fears of a bottleneck that would impede U.S.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Wednesday that a fuel leak, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive blaze at a Mitsui & Co Ltd petrochemical storage operation along the Houston Ship Channel in March.The fire that began on March 17 at Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) spread black smoke across Houston, shut the nearby ship channel, slowed production at local oil refineries and closed roadways and schools as it spread from one giant storage…

Magellan Midstream Partners LP said on Wednesday it had commenced operation of a new 135-mile, 20-inch diameter refined products pipeline from its East Houston terminal to Hearne, Texas.The company also said construction of a pipeline spur from the new system to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport was also complete and would be in operation by Nov. 1, once testing is finalized.Completion of the East Houston to Hearne pipeline has also reversed an existing pipeline segment between Hearne and Dallas…

Intercontinental Exchange Inc and Magellan Midstream Partners LP said on Wednesday they would auction dock capacity at Magellan's terminals in Galena Park and Seabrook, Texas, for holders of ICE's Permian West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures contracts.The monthly auction process will allow customers who purchase an ICE Permian WTI crude futures contract, deliverable at Magellan's East Houston terminal (MEH), the option to load crude directly onto a vessel at Galena Park and Seabrook dock facilities for export, the companies said.The capacity offered will be adequate to fill Panamax and Aframax size vessels, with Suezmax size vessels set to be added in the future.Earlier this year…

Two cargoes of U.S. crude oil have been booked to sail to Australia, trade sources and data companies said, highlighting the increasing global reach of exports from the United States.Aframax tanker Esther Spirit loaded U.S. oil in early April at Enterprise Houston Terminal and is scheduled to discharge at Kwinana in Western Australia on May 20, ship-tracking data from Refinitiv and Vortexa showed.BP Plc chartered the Silver Sun, an Aframax, to load from the U.S. Gulf Coast this week to Kwinana for $2.35 million, according to a shipbroker and Refinitiv data. BP operates a refinery at Kwinana producing fuels for Western Australia.Crude exports from the United States tend to be so-called light grades that yield large amounts of gasoline and diesel when refined…

Four tankers on Thursday were preparing to offload or pick up cargoes in the busiest U.S. oil port, the first signs of an easing of the bottleneck that cut 1 million barrels per day of shipments, according to vessel tracking data.The Houston Ship Channel reopened this week with operating restrictions following a fire at Mitsui & Co Inc's Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas. That blaze sent fuel and chemicals into the waterway, which connects Houston to the…

A massive fire at a fuels storage company along the Houston Ship Channel may burn for two more days, an official said on Monday as the blaze spread a plume of black smoke across the city, shutting schools in two nearby communities.The fire began Sunday morning in a giant storage tank containing naphtha, a volatile substance used to create octane-boosting components of gasoline.No injuries were reported from the fire but nearby residents were encouraged to remain indoors. The entire city of Deer Park, Texas, a Houston suburb, was told to shelter in doors all day Sunday.

Tankers carrying record levels of crude are leaving in droves from Texas and Louisiana ports, and more growth in the fledgling U.S. oil export market may before long test the limits of infrastructure like pipelines, dock space and ship traffic. U.S. crude exports have boomed since the decades-old ban was lifted less than two years ago, with shipments recently hitting a record of 2 million barrels a day. But shippers and traders fear the rising trend is not sustainable, and if limits are hit, it could pressure the price of U.S. oil. How much crude the United States can export is a mystery. Most terminal operators and companies will not disclose capacity, and federal agencies like the U.S. Energy Department do not track it.

Enterprise Products Partners on Thursday said the first ship to load ethane for export from its new terminal on the Houston Ship Channel will arrive on Aug. 1, the first such export of the light natural gas liquid from the U.S. Gulf Coast. Exports from the terminal are expected to ramp up to 1.9 million barrels per month by the end of the year, executives said on Thursday during the company's second quarter earnings call. Enterprise said it was currently in the process of commissioning the ethane export facility, as well as its Waha natural gas processing plant in the Delaware Basin. The company also said three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cargo loadings from its Houston Ship Channel export terminal were cancelled in July, and five have been cancelled in August.

Princess Cruises' new service from the Port of Houston Authority's Bayport Cruise Terminal in Pasadena, Texas, kicks off with a four-day benefit cruise aboard 'Caribbean Princess' to Progreso, Mexico. About 2,000 passengers supported "Cruising for a Cause" and the first-ever fundraising cruise is expected to raise up to $1 million for two U.S. military veterans' organizations: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Operation Homefront. After this first voyage, to conclude on 9, November, 2013, Caribbean Princess is scheduled to begin, with a total of 27 sailings from the Houston terminal.

China Merchants Holdings (International) announce completed acquisition of a 49% stake in container port operators Terminal Link from CMA CGM. "The smooth completion of this transaction,"China Merchants Group Assistant President & CMHI Managing Director Dr Hu Jianhua indicates," reflects the recognition and consent to the transaction from the governments from whose regulatory units consents and approvals were obtained. "The smooth completion of this transaction,"China Merchants Group Assistant President & CMHI Managing Director Dr Hu Jianhua indicates…

China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited (CMHI) and CMA CGM are pleased to announce the completion on June 11, 2013 of the sale and purchase of the 49% equity stake in Terminal Link, upon the obtaining of all consents and approvals in various jurisdictions and the completion of certain pre-closing corporate reorganizations as stipulated under the terms of the Acquisition Agreement. CMHI's intention to acquire from CMA CGM 49% equity interest in Terminal Link for €400 million was announced earlier in January. The Completion was formalised by the signing by both parties of a Shareholders Agreement. Among the many guests attended the signing ceremony in Luxembourg of the Shareholders Agreement were CMA CGM Executive Officer Farid Salem…