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Dec 18, 2007 12:21 PM

Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy LLC (LDH Energy), Houston TX, has announced that its subsidiary, LDH Energy Mont Belvieu LP., has signed an agreement with Colonial Pipeline and commenced a major expansion and reconfiguration of salt cavern storage capacity at its Mont Belvieu storage facility near Houston TX.

The project will result in a total of 12 million barrels of refined products storage with full bi-directional connectivity to the Colonial Pipeline mainline system as well as other pipelines.

Storage of hydrocarbons in underground salt caverns, versus storage in above-ground tanks, is environmentally beneficial as product vapor emissions from salt caverns are virtually non-existent, the company said.

LDH Energy’s Mont Belvieu storage facility currently includes 24 salt cavern storage wells with a total capacity of 44 million barrels, and stores refined products, propane, ethane, ethylene as well as other natural gas liquids (NGLs). Following engineering and construction, the storage facility will be reconfigured to allow increased refined products storage.

The project will require construction of an injection facility west of Mont Belvieu in Harris County with pipelines connecting back to the existing LDH Energy caverns. In addition, the new facility will include new pumps large enough to meet the Colonial volume requirements, meters, and interconnecting pipelines. The projected schedule calls for start up of the facility by the end of 2008.