Energy Transfer’s (ET) 250 Mb/d Flexport expansion at its Nederland terminal is nearing startup. Ethane service is expected to start later this month, propane in July, and ethylene by the end of the year, ET said on its 1Q25 earnings call.
ET confirmed the project between Beaumont and Port Arthur, TX is over 90% contracted on 3- to 5-year terms beginning January 2026. Despite recent tariff noise, management struck a confident tone on the earnings call, noting strong international demand and continued spot ethane sales to China. Flexport is clearly commercially de-risked - but how will it be supplied?
The Nederland terminal is fed by four pipelines from Mont Belvieu, shown in the table. The challenge for the project lies with the ethane line. The Orbit export terminal uses ~180 Mb/d of the 200 Mb/d capacity, leaving only ~20 Mb/d available for Nederland.
730 Mb/d total – 180 Mb/d (Orbit ethane) = ~550 Mb/d
In the NGL Hub Model, East Daley Analytics models current Nederland export capacity at 500 Mb/d. The Flexport expansion raises capacity to 750 Mb/d. This leaves Nederland ~200 Mb/d short of fully supplying the terminal post-Flexport. The shortfall is especially acute for ethane, which appears to have only ~20 Mb/d of spare capacity -- unless ET has expanded the line.
Given the scale of the Flexport expansion and the tight balance on inbound capacity, it’s likely that ET has quietly expanded both the ethane and propane pipelines to support the increased volumes. While making no formal announcements, the project’s commercial commitments and near-term in-service dates suggest that infrastructure upgrades are either complete or well underway behind the scenes.
See East Daley’s monthly Ethane and Propane Supply & Demand reports for more on Flexport and the outlook for NGL exports. – Julian Renton Tickers: ET.
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