MPLX LP Purchases Pin Oak Holdings’ Mt. Airy Terminal On Lower Mississippi River
Pin Oak Holdings LLC announced September 26 the sale of Pin Oak Terminals LLC, the company’s Mt. Airy, La., liquid and chemicals storage terminal on the Lower Mississippi River, to MPLX LP for about $450 million in cash. The storage facility and terminal is located within the jurisdiction of the Port of South Louisiana.
As part of the deal, Pin Oak, which is a partnership between Dauphine Midstream LLC and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., will retain an economic interest in the facility.
Pin Oak Holdings LLC acquired the Mt. Airy site as a greenfield in 2012 with the plan to build a transportation hub on the Lower Mississippi River. Pin Oak Mt. Airy now has a storage capacity of 4 million barrels—which is fully leased—and a deepwater dock. The site has the capability to expand its storage capacity to 10 million barrels and to add a second dock.
“Our team is very proud to have built a premier storage and logistics facility in Louisiana, and this transaction further validates our development strategy and ability to execute,” said C. Mike Reed, CEO of Pin Oak. “We delivered top-tier logistics solutions for our customers, and we are pleased that our dedicated employees will continue to provide excellent service to our valued customers.”
Harris Ziskroit, chief investment office of Dauphine Midstream LLC, expressed gratitude for the local partnerships that helped make the terminal a reality.
“As the project’s initial developers, we remain grateful for our partnerships with the Port of South Louisiana, St. John the Baptist Parish government, and the St. John the Baptist Parish Sherriff’s office,” Ziskroit said. “We look forward to seeing the continued growth of the terminal and building on our strong relationships with the local community.”
Brian Falik, Mercuria’s chief investment officer for the Americas, said he is proud of what the team accomplished at Mt. Airy and is looking forward to future opportunities.
“Mercuria is pleased to have been a partner in constructing and operating a world-class terminal in Louisiana,” Falik said. “We look forward to Pin Oak actively developing additional terminals and forging strong ties with key customers and local communities.”
Pin Oak is in the process of building a liquid bulk export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. The company acquired the terminal in 2017 and has since executed an interconnection agreement with a crude oil pipeline and has secured a multi-million-barrel, long-term crude oil storage contract. The Pin Oak Corpus Christi terminal will begin full operations in late 2019.
