This milestone follows a detailed commissioning effort, providing safe and on-specification handling and storage of ethylene from Caliche’s initial pipeline connection.
The project’s cavern allows for storage of up to 600 million lbs of ethylene and connects to a 12.8-mile header system crossing five operating ethylene pipelines, two more of which will be connected to the facility before the year’s end. This announcement follows drilling completion of a planned, 5 million bbls cavern for ethane storage. Caliche expects to provide up to 120 000 bpd of ethane deliverability, as well as a 12-mile ethane header mirroring the path of Caliche’s ethylene system. By the end of 2019, the ethane header will cross five ethane pipelines connecting more than 50% of Gulf Coast ethane consumption with the Mont Belvieu NGL complex.
Additionally, Caliche has begun drilling a planned 3 million bbls cavern for other NGL storage with up to another 120 000 bpd of deliverability.
When fully developed, Caliche Coastal will provide up to 32 million bbls of purpose-built, salt cavern storage facilities.
