Caliche Expanding NGL Salt Dome Cavern

Caliche Development Partners, a Houston, Texas, USA-based company focused on the development, construction, and operation of subsurface hydrocarbon storage assets and related pipelines in North America, plans to expand its natural gas liquids (NGL) salt dome cavern storage facility in Beaumont, Texas.

The expansion will include a new five-million-barrel cavern for ethane storage, with up to 120 000 barrels per day of deliverability, as well as a 12-mi. ethane header mirroring the path of Caliche’s existing ethylene system. This header will cross five ethane pipelines connecting more than 50% of Gulf Coast ethane consumption with the Mont Belvieu NGL complex. Caliche said it expects its previously announced ethylene cavern to be fully subscribed by its Sept. 30 in-service date and continues to respond to customer interest regarding additional cavern development.

When fully developed, Caliche’s Coastal Caverns storage facility could provide up to 32 million barrels of purpose-built, salt cavern storage facilities.