The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final greenhouse gas (GHG) prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) construction permit to CCI Corpus Christi LLC, a holding of Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI), Stamford, Conn., for a $500 million petroleum processing installation to be located near Corpus Christi, Tex.
The permit allows CCI to build a 100,000-b/d condensate splitter plant and a bulk petroleum terminal that will house storage tanks and barge-loading operations capable of handling 500,000 b/d of condensate for export, EPA said in a Sept. 15 release.
In addition to exporting condensate, CCI plans to use the splitter to produce diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, and other petroleum products, according to EPA.
The proposed condensate splitter plant will consist of two identical fractionation trains, each with the capacity to process 50,000-b/d of condensate blends using conventional distillation technologies, according to CCI’s original GHG PSD permit application, dated October 2013.
The project follows a wave of industry moves intended to relieve rising stockpiles of US domestic light petroleum supplies amid a long-standing ban on US crude oil exports. In June, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security ruled that processed condensate qualifies as an oil product eligible for export purposes (OGJ Online, June 25, 2014).
CCI, a global, private commodities merchant, was formerly known as Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy LLC, until a transfer of ownership in January 2013, according to a Jan. 2, 2013, release from CCI.
