Phillips 66’s board of directors approved a $3 billion investment in two facilities 60 miles south of Houston. According to Fuel Fix, the move represents the company using its refining operations to fund a business transformation toward energy transportation, storage and processing infrastructure.
A liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminal in Freeport could export 4.4 million barrels of butane or propane monthly by 2016. A new fractionation facility in Old Ocean will separate natural gas liquids into chemicals used in plastics manufacturing or other industries. That plant could process 100,000 barrels daily by next year. A building boom in export terminals is underway.
Combined, the two Brazoria County facilities would create 50 permanent jobs in southeast Texas.
Seventy percent of Phillip 66’s $4.6 billion capital budget will go toward its midstream segment this year, while it plans to spend $1 billion for the upkeep of its refining assets.
The shift comes as natural gas and its products have become abundant and cheap in the United States.