Kinder Morgan Invests $170M in Houston Ship Channel Terminal

Midstream giant Kinder Morgan announced Thursday that it is investing $170 million in its Pasadena Terminal, one of the biggest product storage facilities in Texas. 

The 340-acre Pasadena Terminal sits on the busy Houston Ship Channel, the hub of Texas' oil refining and petchem industry. Together with the nearby Galena Park terminal, the Pasadena complex can store more than 40 million barrels of product, and it is connected to nearly three dozen inbound and outbound pipelines. It has ten docks for barges and ships, and it can handle product tankers of up to Panamax size. 

Kinder Morgan says that the new investments will enable increased flow rates on inbound pipeline connections and outbound dock lines, significantly reducing vessel load times and expanding the effective dock capacity. Kinder Morgan is also expanding the Pasadena terminals MTBE handling capacity, including a new dedicated cross-channel MTBE line serving vessel loading at the terminal's north docks. 

Kinder Morgan is the largest independent terminal operator in the U.S., with interests in both liquid and dry bulk cargo handling. It also operates 16 Jones Act vessels in U.S. coastwise trade. 

“These projects speak to Kinder Morgan’s continued commitment to excellence and to improving our already best-in-class facilities along the Houston Ship Channel,” said John Schlosser, president of Terminals for KMI. “The announced improvements only serve to enhance our position as the market-leading refined petroleum products storage hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast."