Howard Energy Partners has begun construction on two liquids-handling facilities to serve South Texas production from the Eagle Ford Shale and provide expanded market access for multiple products.

The company’s Live Oak Stabilizer is an off-spec liquids stabilizer facility near Three Rivers, TX. The Brownsville Liquids Terminal is a bulk liquid storage facility within the Port of Brownsville, TX. Both projects are expected to be completed by mid-2014.

With a capacity of up to 10,000 b/d, the Live Oak Stabilizer would provide off-spec liquids stabilization, as well as a firm field-level sales point and processing outlet for both on-spec and off-spec liquids coming from the Eagle Ford and other producing basins in South Texas. Off-spec liquids are produced liquids that do not meet market pipeline specifications.

The facility would be equipped with six truck racks with direct access from Highway 281 to receive trucked liquids with a vapor pressure up to 205 psi. The Live Oak facility would be able to produce three separate, marketable products: condensate with a Reid vapor pressure of 9-11 psi, y-grade natural gas liquids (NGL) and rich gas. It would feature access to multiple outlets for the produced condensate, as well as pipeline connections for the y-grade NGLs and rich gas. Located adjacent to the company’s Live Oak Railroad Park, the facility would also offer opportunities to blend produced condensate with other crude products or ship it via rail to other markets.

According to Railroad Commission of Texas data, condensate production from the Eagle Ford Shale has skyrocketed from about 2,300 b/d in 2009 to more than 186,000 b/d during the first three quarters of 2013.

“The Live Oak Stabilizer will provide a reliable, cost-effective solution for marketing on-spec and off-spec trucked liquids, allowing our customers to sell their product without incurring the significant trucking and demurrage fees associated with hauling the product to the nearest comparable facilities in East Texas or the Fort Worth Basin,” said Howard Energy Partners’ Josh Weber, senior vice president of commercial and business development.

Howard Energy Partners has agreements with Enbridge Liquids Transportation & Marketing LP (ELTM) for 50% of the capacity of the Live Oak Stabilizer and is seeking additional commitments.

Located within the Port of Brownsville, in Foreign Trade Zone No. 62, the Brownsville Terminal would consist of 21 tanks providing up to 225,000 bbl of bulk liquid storage for upstream, midstream and downstream hydrocarbons, and other bulk liquids requiring custom terminal services. The terminal includes access to a Panamax-class dock with oceangoing vessel and inland barge capabilities, a three-bay truck rack with on-scale loading capabilities, an 11-railcar loading and unloading facility, steam heating, real-time product monitoring and control systems, as well as infrastructure for commodity blending.

The Port of Brownsville is the largest and closest deepwater port to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, a major industrial center, and it provides customers with access as well to other world markets. Additionally, the Brownsville Terminal would provide customers with interstate access via Interstate 69 and Toll Road 550, rail access via the Brownsville Rio Grande Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad, inland marine vessel access via the intercostal waterway, and deepwater marine access via the Liquid Cargo Dock.

According to the most recent foreign trade zone annual report to Congress, the Port of Brownsville ranked No. 1 in exports among the top 25 foreign trade zone ports in the United States. The Port exported commodities worth more than $3 billion in 2012. The top commodities moved were offshore exploration and production platforms, petroleum products, metals, and steel.

“These two projects significantly increase the platform of services we can offer our customers, by launching us into the liquids handling space,” said Howard Energy Partners President Brad Bynum.