Plans Going Ahead To Put In As Much As 80 Million Bbls Of New Storage Along Gulf Coast -- July 23, 2015

Sometime I think if it weren't for states like Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and perhaps a handful others, the US would be in sorry state with regard to energy. is reporting:

The midstream company planning to build one of the largest crude oil storage facilities on the Gulf Coast said Thursday that it had reached a deal to fund the first phase of construction on the project in southwest Houston.

Fairway Energy Partners LLC said in a release that Houston private equity firm FBR & Co. agreed to fund the first leg of the Pierce Junction storage facility, which will convert three underground salt caverns near the intersection of the 610 and 288 Freeways into crude oil storage.

Fairway is backed by Haddington Ventures LLC, a Houston investment firm that manages a host of energy storage and processing projects around the U.S.

Fairway said it expected Pierce Junction to be in service by the end of 2016. The financial terms of the deal were not released.

The project, first proposed in 2011 when the shale drilling boom was beginning to flood U.S. storage with crude oil, will hold up to 20 million barrels of crude oil. According to the Wall St. Journal, that could account for more than a quarter of the new capacity planned for the Gulf Coast by the end of next year.

The first phase of the project will build out 10 million barrels of storage in the caverns and construct 21 miles of pipelines connecting the facility to two other storage hubs in southeast Houston.

A quarter of new storage = 20 million bbls; suggests that we are looking forward to 80 million bbls of new storage capacity along the coast.

US storage by PADD here. PADD 3, which includes the Gulf Coast currently has about 300 million bbls of storage; PADD 2 which includes Cushing and the Bakken has about 150 million bbls.

Comment: folks don't building something if they don't think it will be needed. When someone or something continues with plans to build 80 million bbls of new storage along the coast, it speaks volumes. There are probably a handful of countries that could even consider this now: US, Saudi Arabia, and...that's about it. The 21st century is going to be known as the Age of Energy Shifts and the US will be smack dab right in the center.

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Can A Cop Order You To Get Out Of Your Vehicle

Here's one link that answers the question; I'm sure there are other answers.

Years ago when I was going to graduate school in Los Angeles, my parents flew out to visit. One evening about 7:30 p.m. I was driving Mom and Dad around downtown Los Angeles, just looking around. The streets were empty, which is typical for some of these major urban centers after most businesses have closed. I came to a dead-end street and made a legal U-turn. Soon after the U-turn a black-and-white cruiser with two officers pulled me over. Of course I immediately questioned the legality of my U-turn. I had been taught when stopped by police to stay in the car with both hands clearly visible on the steering wheel, and that's the pose I took.

Either through a loudspeaker or a loud voice, I forget, I was ordered out of the car and told to stand against the passenger side of the vehicle, feet on the sidewalk, hands on the roof of the car, and spread my legs. I was then given a pat down.

When all was clear, the policeman relaxed, told me to turn around, and asked where I was from. He had noticed the North Dakota license plates on my 1973 Chevy Nova SS.

It turns out he was from a small town in North Dakota and simply wanted to talk about his home state. About that time, my dad from the back seat heard the conversation, stuck his head out the window, and said, "Hey, I know your dad."

I had no problem with that. The policeman had no clue who I was and certainly did not want to be surprised by an armed man with evil intent. I thought it was a great experience; provided a great story told many times since. But the bottom line, I will do what a cop tells me to do.

It doesn't change my thoughts regarding the Sandra Bland video.