Shell Midstream Partners buys stake in three Gulf of Mexico pipelines
Houston based Shell Midstream Partners has acquired minority stakes in three pipelines located in The Gulf of Mexico from BP for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition is said to be a move to consolidate its corridor pipeline strategy in the region for Shell Midstream.
The company has acquired 10% stake in the Proteus Oil Pipeline Company, 10% in the Endymion Oil Pipeline Company and 1% in Cleopatra Gas Gathering Company.
Shell Midstream Partners CEO John Hollowell said: “Our sponsor, Shell Pipeline Company is currently building the Mattox pipeline to serve the recently sanctioned Appomattox platform.
“Proteus and Endymion will connect the Mattox pipeline to onshore markets, creating a new corridor line, which will transport all of Appomattox’s volumes once it comes online toward the end of the decade.”
Proteus, a 71-mile crude oil pipeline of 425,000 bpd capacity, gives access to the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico from the Thunder Horse and Thunder Hawk platform to the Proteus SP 89E Platform.
Hollowell added: “Proteus also connects to the Thunder Horse platform which is a key development field for BP and ExxonMobil. In addition to Thunder Horse, Proteus is also currently connected to the Noble Energy, Inc. operated Thunder Hawk platform.”
Endymion, an 89-mile crude oil pipeline of 425,000 bpd capacity, also gives access to the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. With access to multiple markets, Endymion is connected to LOOP Clovelly storage.
A 115-mile gas gathering pipeline in Southern Green Canyo, Cleopatra is connected to the Holstein, Atlantis, Neptune, Shenzi and Mad Dog platforms. It has access to Atwater Valley, Lund and Walker Ridge areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Howell concluded: “This acquisition will deepen our footprint in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, an active area with a number of discoveries currently under appraisal.”
Shell Midstream revealed that the collective acquisition sum was equivalent to nearly 7.7 times its forecasted annual average adjusted EBITDA attributable to the purchased stakes during 2017 and 2018.
The amount was financed through borrowings under its revolving credit facilities and the acquisition is likely to be instantly accretive to shareholders, said the energy and petrochemicals consortium.
Shell Midstream Partners’ board of directors of its general partner have approved the acquisition terms.