Modifications to the Buckeye Texas Terminal Enable Berthing of Suezmax Class Oil Tankers

First Suezmax Oil Tanker Successfully Loaded at the Terminal


HOUSTON, April 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Buckeye Partners, L.P. (“Buckeye”) (NYSE:BPL) and Trafigura Trading LLC, (“Trafigura”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trafigura Group Pte Ltd, today announced the first shipment of crude oil by Suezmax tanker from the Buckeye Texas Hub terminal located along the ship channel in the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.  Recently completed modifications allow the terminal to berth Suezmax class vessels, enabling an incremental 1 million barrels of crude oil to be exported each month from the terminal. The Suezmax Mt Astra, which finished loading at the terminal on March 31, was chartered by Motiva Enterprises LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas.

“Buckeye Texas Hub has become a premier location providing marine terminal services, allowing growing U.S. energy exports access to global markets,” said Khalid Muslih, Executive Vice President of Buckeye and President of Global Marine Terminals.  “We are very excited to have reached this milestone and look forward to additional opportunities to partner with Trafigura to further expand the terminal’s capabilities and serve the region’s rapidly growing energy production.”

“North American supplies have launched the U.S. onto the world stage as a new crude provider.  Upgrading the terminal’s deep-water docks at Corpus Christi will help us to meet the growing demand for this product from European refineries and Far East refineries and petrochemical plants,” said Corey Prologo, Head of Oil Trading and Director for Trafigura North America.”

The terminal is operated and 80% owned by Buckeye and 20% owned by Trafigura, with Trafigura retaining exclusive throughput rights. It has approximately 7 million barrels of storage capacity for liquid petroleum products, including a refrigerated and compressed LPG storage complex, pipeline connectivity for receiving crude oil and condensate production from the Permian and Eagle Ford shale plays, five vessel berths, including three deep-water berths and the capability to accommodate Suezmax class tankers, and two 25,000 barrels per day condensate splitters.  These capabilities allow Trafigura the maximum flexibility to market the full portfolio of crude and products to customers as near as the Caribbean and Latin America and as far afield as China.

For further information please contact:

Kevin J. Goodwin, Vice President & Treasurer, Buckeye Partners L.P: (800) 422-2825 or irelations@buckeye.com

Trafigura’s Global Press Office: +41 22 592 45 28 or media@trafigura.com

For high resolution images visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/trafigura_images/

About Buckeye Partners, L.P.

Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL) is a publicly traded master limited partnership which owns and operates, or owns a significant interest in, a diversified global network of integrated assets providing midstream logistic solutions, primarily consisting of the transportation, storage, processing and marketing of liquid petroleum products.  Buckeye is one of the largest independent liquid petroleum products pipeline operators in the United States in terms of volumes delivered, with approximately 6,000 miles of pipeline.  Buckeye also uses its service expertise to operate and/or maintain third-party pipelines and perform certain engineering and construction services for its customers.  Buckeye’s global terminal network, including through its interest in VTTI B.V. (“VTTI”), comprises more than 135 liquid petroleum products terminals with aggregate tank capacity of over 176 million barrels across our portfolio of pipelines, inland terminals and marine terminals located primarily in the East Coast, Midwest and Gulf Coast regions of the United States as well as in the Caribbean, Northwest Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.  Buckeye’s global network of marine terminals enables it to facilitate global flows of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering its customers connectivity between supply areas and market centers through some of the world’s most important bulk liquid storage and blending hubs.  Buckeye’s flagship marine terminal in The Bahamas, Buckeye Bahamas Hub, is one of the largest marine crude oil and refined petroleum products storage facilities in the world and provides an array of logistics and blending services for the global flow of petroleum products.  Buckeye’s Gulf Coast regional hub, Buckeye Texas Partners, offers world-class marine terminalling, storage and processing capabilities.  Through its 50% equity interest in VTTI, Buckeye’s global terminal network offers premier storage and marine terminalling services for petroleum product logistics in key international energy hubs.  Buckeye is also a wholesale distributor of refined petroleum products in certain areas served by its pipelines and terminals.  More information concerning Buckeye can be found at www.buckeye.com.

About Trafigura

Founded in 1993, Trafigura is one of the largest physical commodities trading groups in the world. Trafigura sources, stores, transports and delivers a range of raw materials (including oil and refined products and metals and minerals) to clients around the world. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets, including 49.6 percent owned global oil products storage and distribution company Puma Energy; global terminals, warehousing and logistics operator Impala Terminals; Trafigura's Mining Group and Galena Asset Management. The Company is owned by around 600 of its 3,935 employees who work in 62 offices in 35 countries around the world. Trafigura has achieved substantial growth over recent years, growing revenue from USD12 billion in 2003 to USD136.4 billion in 2017. The Group has been connecting its customers to the global economy for more than two decades, growing prosperity by advancing trade. For more information visit: www.trafigura.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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RS47314__DSF6590-lpr Mt Astra at Corpus Christi