The 512-mile Seaway Pipeline system loop (twin) pipeline from Cushing, OK, to the Jones Creek storage and terminal facility near Freeport, TX, is mechanically complete, according to its backers, Enterprise Products Partners LP andEnbridge Inc. The 30-inch diameter line is expected to more than double the Seaway system’s capacity to 850,000 b/d. The Jones Creek facility is connected to Enterprise’s ECHO crude oil storage facility in Houston by a 65-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline. Construction of a 100-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline from ECHO to Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX, is expected to be completed this month. Commissioning of the Seaway Loop (Twin), as well as the new pipeline from ECHO to Beaumont/Port Arthur, will continue throughout the third quarter. Seaway is owned by Seaway Crude Pipeline Co. LLC, a joint venture owned by affiliates of Enterprise and Enbridge.

Mississippi-based Ergon Inc. plans to expand its services in the Appalachian Basin with projects expected to be complete by 2016. The privately held company, which specializes in the storage, transport and marketing of oil and gas, among other things, plans to start up 10,000 b/d of condensate stabilization at its river terminal in Marietta, OH, by the end of this year. It will add another 10,000 b/d of condensate stabilization at a facility in Newell, WV, near the Ohio River by 2015. The announcement comes as condensate production is rising in the Utica Shale and operators look for more stabilization options to reduce vapor pressure and help market the product (see Shale Daily, June 25; March 10).