Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) Pipelines

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) Pipelines are onshore and offshore oil pipelines that run from Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. They are associated with the proposed Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT).

Location

The pipeline runs from the Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) Oil Terminal in Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, United States.

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Project details

Onshore Pipeline (ECHO Terminal to Oyster Creek Terminal)

One 50.1-mile pipeline connects the ECHO Terminal to the Oyster Creek Terminal.

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• Operator:
• Owner: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Parent company: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Capacity: 2,000,000 barrels per day
• Length: 50.1 miles
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2023

Onshore Pipeline (Oyster Creek to Shore Crossing)

Two 12.2-mile pipelines connect the Oyster Creek Terminal to Shore Crossing.

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• Operator:
• Owner: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Parent company: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Capacity: 2,000,000 barrels per day
• Length: 24.4 miles
  • Consists of two parallel 12.2-mile pipelines
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2023

Offshore Pipeline (Shore Crossing to SPOT)

Two subsea pipelines connect the deepwater port with onshore infrastructure at Shore Crossing for international export out of the Gulf of Mexico.

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• Operator:
• Owner: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Parent company: Enbridge; Enterprise Products Partners
• Capacity: 2,000,000 barrels per day
• Length: 93.8 miles
  • Consists of two parallel 46.9-mile pipelines
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2023

Background

The project includes one new 36-inch, 50-mile pipeline from the Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) Oil Terminal to Oyster Creek Oil Terminal, two collocated 36-inch, 12-mile (total) pipelines from the Oyster Creek Oil Terminal to offshore pipe connection in the Gulf of Mexico, and two new collocated, bi-directional 36-inch 50-mile (total) offshore pipelines to a platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

As of December 2021, the project developers were hoping to get permits to begin construction on the terminal in the second quarter of 2022.

In early 2024, construction had still not begun as a result of environmental opposition and Covid-19 delays, and the EIA reported a start year of 2027.

In April 2024, MARAD issued a license for Enterprise to build the terminal, allowing the company to move forward with construction.

Opposition

In June 2020, as the comment period closed for the Sea Port Oil Terminal, over 38,000 comments opposed to the terminal and associated infrastructure had been received on its various impacts to waterways, endangered species, public health, local economies, and the global climate. The contractor tasked with completing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) — Environmental Resource Management (ERM) — had also stopped being paid by the developers. This was thought to effectively stop further development of the pipeline, though in December 2021 the developers were still hoping to get permits.