GOTAC Terminal back on stream, will serve Permian, Eagle Ford customers

If sufficient demand, GOTAC Terminal will be upgraded to 100,000 bbl/day

A family dispute over a small Corpus Christ ashphalt refinery – renamed the GOTAC Terminal – has been resolved and Gravity Midstream, LLC says the facility will begin processing Permian and Eagle Ford light crude by mid-2016.

Gravity Midstream President Arthur J. Brass.

Gravity Midstream Corpus ChrisJ, LLC acquired the transacJon facility from Trigeant, Ltd. for $100 million as part of a Chapter 11 plan approved by a Florida bankruptcy court in May. Gravity Midstream President Arthur J. Brass ran the refinery for previous owner Trigeant during a legal dispute between billionaire shipper Harry Sargeant III and his family that landed the company and its assets in bankruptcy court, according to Reuters.

The 44-acre crude oil terminal located on the Corpus ChrisJ Ship Channel is in the heart of the area’s refining center. Gravity expects to bring the terminal into service in Sept. under the name Gravity Oil Terminal at Corpus ChrisJ or the GOTAC Terminal.

“We are excited to take ownership and begin the process of commissioning and expanding this unique facility,” said Brass.

“The GOTAC Terminal is a logisJcally advantaged facility that provides a significant outlet for oil produced in the Eagle Ford and Permian areas and will soon offer storage, processing and throughput service via all four major modes of connecJvity: pipeline, deep water, truck and rail.”

ExisJng infrastructure at GOTAC includes 800,000 barrels of tankage with access to an addiJonal planned two million barrels of storage capacity, deep water dock access, a crude processing unit (“CPU”) with current capacity to process up to 25,000 barrels bbl./day of heavy crude, and rail and truck loading and unloading faciliJes. Gravity expects to convert the CPU into a 35,000 bpd condensate stabilizer or condensate spliSer.

Brass says that if customer demand is sufficient, Gravity will build a second stabilizer or spliSer, enabling the company to process up to 100,000 bbl./day.

The GOTAC Terminal offers current pipeline connecJvity to neighboring CITGO and Valero refineries. Gravity plans to connect the terminal to major supply pipelines originaJng in the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin by mid-2016.

GOTAC will have access to an adjacent deep water dock that will serve Aframax crude tankers, favored because of their ability to serve most ports in the world.