A subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners LP has purchased a 70% stake in the Rio Grande Pipeline, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipe, from HEP Navajo Southern LP. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Enterprise CEO Michael Creel said the acquisition is supported by firm transportation contracts and gives his company “direct access to growing end-user markets for home heating and cooking fuel.”

The Rio Grande Pipeline, which Enterprise Products Operating LLC now operates, is 30% owned by BP plc. The 265-mile, eight-inch diameter pipe originates near Odessa, TX, in Ector County and transports a primarily butane/propane mix to a Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex)-owned interconnect at the Mexican border south of El Paso. From that point, Pemex transports the NGLs to its Mendez Terminal near Juarez, Mexico for distribution to consumers.

All of the NGLs being delivered into the Rio Grande Pipeline now originate from Enterprise’s Mid-America Pipeline system and are fractionated at Hobbs in Gaines County, TX. The Rio Grande Pipeline has the capacity to transport up to 25,000 b/d of NGLs, Enterprise said.

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