Vitol's Coastal Caverns Announces Plans for Beaumont LPG Export Facility

HOUSTON, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Coastal Caverns, Inc. (CCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vitol Group, today announced plans to develop a new propane export facility in conjunction with its LPG storage facility that is currently under development on the historic Spindletop dome in Beaumont, Texas.  

The new project will include storage capacity for up to six million barrels of domestic and international grade propane as well as a processing facility capable of handling as much as 100,000 bbls per day.  The first phase of the project will be designed to treat and export up to 3 million tons of propane per year, with a potential second phase that will allow for up to 6 million tons per year.

"Vitol, as the anchor tenant in CCI's propane export facility, is excited about the capacity this new facility will provide to supply multiple international markets," said Mike Loya, head of Vitol Inc, the North American subsidiary of the Vitol Group.  "This is a great opportunity to market a product globally at highly competitive prices as a result of new U.S. shale gas and liquids production."

The facility's construction is expected to create as many as 100 new jobs for the region, and as many as 20 permanent positions to operate upon completion.

CCI is located on the site of the historic Spindletop Dome in Beaumont, Texas.  The entire facility has permits for up to 24 million bbls of liquids storage capacity.  Development of CCI's propane facility began earlier this year with a targeted completion date for the first quarter of 2013.  

About Vitol. The Vitol Group was founded in 1966, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since then the company has grown significantly to become a major participant in world energy markets and is now one of the world's largest independent energy traders. Its trading portfolio includes crude oil, oil products, LNG, natural gas, coal, power, metals and carbon emissions. Vitol trades with all the major national oil companies, the integrated oil majors and the independent refiners and traders. Globally, Vitol trades over 5.5 million barrels of crude oil and products per day.

In addition to its trading business, and its 50% share in the storage and terminals business, VTTI, with 11 terminals on five continents, Vitol has an exploration and production business which includes interests in Ghana, Cameroon, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan. It also currently owns and operates over 100kbd in refining assets.

Further details about the Vitol Group are available on www.vitol.com.

About Vitol, Inc. Vitol, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Vitol Group. Headquartered in Houston, it focuses on the trading of crude oil, oil products, power, natural gas, and ethanol, and oversees energy operations in North America ranging from pipelines to terminal facilities to coal production.

Contact:
Don Goldberg
202-365-5224
[email protected]

SOURCE Vitol, Inc.