About The Project
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Seaway Crude Pipeline Company LLC (Seaway), is a 50/50 joint venture between Enterprise Products Partners L.P. which serves as operator and Enbridge Inc., which purchased its ownership interest from ConocoPhillips on November 16, 2011. The Seaway system includes a 500-mile Freeport, Texas to Cushing, Oklahoma pipeline and a terminal and distribution crude oil network originating in Texas City, Texas that serves all of the refineries in the Greater Houston area.
Enterprise and Enbridge are in the process of reversing Seaway, allowing it to transport crude oil from the bottlenecked Cushing, Oklahoma hub to the vast refinery complex along the Gulf Coast near Houston. In reversed service, the line is expected to have an initial capacity of 150,000 barrels per day (BPD) by second quarter 2012. Following pump station additions and modifications, anticipated to be completed by early 2013, the capacity of the reversed Seaway Pipeline will increase to approximately 400,000 BPD of crude oil, assuming a mix of light and heavy grades.
A binding open commitment period was held January 4, 2012 to February 10, 2012, during which shippers executed long-term, crude oil transportation agreements ranging from five years to 20 years. These commitments are providing the support for a looping (twinning) of the Seaway Pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf Coast that is expected to more than double capacity to 850,000 BPD by mid-2014.
As part of the Seaway reversal and expansion projects, additional pipelines are being constructed that will allow shippers to access Enterprise's ECHO crude oil storage facility in southeast Houston and the Port Arthur/Beaumont, a major heavy oil refining market.
Providing southbound capacity to the Gulf Coast from the oversupplied Cushing hub will also facilitate the development of crude oil from growing North American basins, reduce the need for imported supplies and promote energy independence. Other benefits include job opportunities as a result of construction, including those at the North American mills that are expected to provide pipe for the project, increased use of local goods and services and additional tax revenue.