Sunoco Logistics Delays Mariner East 2 NGL Pipeline Startup

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (NYSE:SXL) (Newtown Square, Pennsylvania) is delaying the planned startup date of its Mariner 2 natural gas liquids pipeline by several months due to permit timing, according to the company's top executive.

The first phase of the Mariner East Pipeline was completed in the first quarter of this year and can transport up to 70,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of NGL from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to interconnect with an existing Sunoco pipeline to take it to the company's industrial complex in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, where the company has an ethane export terminal. For more information on ethane exports from the U.S., see September 6, 2016, article - Ethane Exports Mean Big Business in U.S.

The Mariner East 2 project will expand the total Mariner East takeaway capacity to 345,000 BBL/d. The project was supposed to have an in-service date by the end of this year. However, Sunoco Logistics Chief Executive Officer Michael Hennigan said during the company's recent quarterly earnings conference call that "Our updated estimate of permit timing now indicates a third-quarter 2017 startup."

"We originally thought we would have Mariner East 2 online by the end of the 2016, and we now expect the third quarter of 2017, which is a significant deviation from our original plan," said Hennigan. "We remain optimistic and look forward to the next phase of the project, where approximately 10,000 construction jobs will be implemented."

Mariner East 2 will be able to supply Sunoco's planned propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit currently being planned at Marcus Hook. The PDH unit will have a production capacity of between 400,000-900,000 metric tons per year of propylene and is expected to be operational in 2020. Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP) (Dallas, Texas) is constructing a fractionator at Marcus Hook that will have a production capacity of 30,000 BBL/d when operational in 2017 and will also be able to be fed by the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

The Mariner East 1 project has not been without its problems. An issue with the ethane-chilling unit continued to limit the throughput of ethane on the line. "Our total throughput on the system has been limited to approximately 50,000 BBL/d year-to-date, versus our expectations of approximately 70,000 BBL/d this year," said Hennigan. "The good news is the work is completed, and we're expecting the original design flow to be behind us as this point."

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