Bayou Bridge Pipeline connects Texas oil to Louisiana refineries

Bayou Bridge will supplant marine and rail delivery of crude oil to Louisiana

Bayou Bridge Pipeline, LLC has launched a binding expansion open season to assess additional interest in transportation service from Nederland, Texas, to refining markets in Louisiana.

Pipeline under construction (stock photo).

Bayou Bridge is jointly owned by subsidiaries of Phillips 66 (40%), Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (30%) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (30%). Sunoco Logistics will be the operator of the system.

Construction is already underway on the BBP 30-inch pipeline segment from to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bayou Bridge expects commercial operations for this segment to begin in the first quarter of 2016. The results of the expansion open season will be used by Bayou Bridge to determine the diameter of the BBP pipeline segment from Lake Charles to Texas.

At St. James, Louisiana, Bayou Bridge has agreed to a connection with NuStar Energy L.P.’s crude oil terminal and is in discussions with additional parties to connect to the extensive existing crude oil terminalling infrastructure in the region, including the Plains Marketing, L.P.’s crude oil terminal.

The in-service date for commercial deliveries by Bayou Bridge is forecast for the second half of 2017.

Greg Garland, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66.

“The Bayou Bridge pipeline, combined with the storage and logistics capabilities of our Beaumont Terminal, provides enhanced opportunities to deliver North American heavy and light crudes into the Louisiana market that is heavily dependent today on marine and rail delivery of crude oil,” said Greg Garland, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66, in July.

“The pipeline also complements other pipeline projects we have underway to deliver Bakken crude oil to the Gulf Coast.”

Michael Hennigan, CEO of Sunoco Logistics says that connecting to his company’s 25 million barrel Nederland crude terminal on the Gulf Coast greatly benefits the project.

“Our extensive pipeline system connects our West Texas Permian, southern Oklahoma, Granite Wash, Eaglebine and East Texas systems to our Nederland terminal and now will have enhanced capability to further deliver crude barrels eastward on the Bayou Bridge pipeline into Louisiana,” he said

The binding expansion open season commenced at 12 p.m. CDT Oct. 1. Bona fide potential shippers that would like to receive copies of the expansion open season documents, the throughput and deficiency agreement, and proposed tariffs must first sign a confidentiality agreement.