BusinessWire reports that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce intends to deny emergency export requests for three ethane shipments to China, totaling 2.2 million barrels. The company has 20 days to respond before the decision becomes final. This follows a sudden licensing requirement introduced in late May for ethane exports to China. In 2024, Enterprise exported around 85,000 barrels per day (BPD) of ethane to China, 40% of its total ethane exports. As of 2025, total U.S. ethane exports to China have risen to an estimated 290,000 BPD. They write:
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (“Enterprise”) (NYSE: EPD) today announced that yesterday, June 3, 2025, Enterprise received notice from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) of BIS’s intent to deny Emergency Authorization Requests (“EARs”) with regard to three proposed cargoes of ethane to China, totaling approximately 2.2 million barrels. Per the Notice, Enterprise has up to twenty days to respond to BIS with any comments or rebuttals with regard to these affected EARs. Unless Enterprise is advised by the 45th day after the date of the notification, these denials will become final without further notice. […]
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”), total U.S. ethane production in 2024 was approximately 2.8 million barrels per day (“BPD”) and total U.S. ethane exports were approximately 492,000 BPD. U.S. ethane exports to China were approximately 227,000 BPD in 2024, representing 8 percent of total U.S. ethane production and 46 percent of total U.S. ethane exports. […]
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Services include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage and marine terminals; crude oil gathering, transportation, storage and marine terminals; petrochemical and refined products transportation, storage and marine terminals; and a marine transportation business that operates on key U.S. inland and intracoastal waterway systems. The partnership’s assets currently include more than 50,000 miles of pipelines; over 300 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, crude oil, petrochemicals and refined products; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.
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