Plains All American Pipeline LP secured 525,000 barrels per day of long-term commitments to ship oil from the Permian Basin to the Corpus Christi coastal area on its Cactus II crude oil pipeline system during a recent open season, according to a Feb. 22 news release.

The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 585,000 bbl/d, and Plains noted that it reserved 60,000 bbl/d of space for walk-up shippers. Plains locked up long-term third-party shipper contracts for 425,000 bbl/d of long-term minimum volume commitments and 100,000 bbl/d of commitments associated with long-term acreage dedications.

The line is expected to cost $1.1 billion, and Plains said affiliates of some third-party contracted shippers may become joint venture partners for up to 35% of the pipeline. That option must be exercised by mid-2018. Plains will serve as operator and retain the remaining 65% ownership.

The Cactus II pipeline system would have origination points at Orla, Wink, Midland, Crane and McCamey in Texas. It is composed of a combination of capacity on existing pipelines and two new 26-inch pipelines, with capacity expandable to about 670,000 bbl/d by adding pumping capacity to the system.

One of the new pipelines would run from Wink to McCamey, while the other would run from McCamey to the Corpus Christi/Ingleside area with access to docks. The second piece to the Corpus Christi area may be owned within the joint venture. Of the $1.1 billion price tag, Plains expects to fund $700 million to $750 million. The rest would be shouldered by the potential joint venture partners.

The pipeline system is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2019.