Ethane volumes shipped on ATEX Pipeline more than doubled in 3Q25, surging after the start of Enterprise Products’ (EPD) Neches River Terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast.
New filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) show ATEX (Appalachia-to-Texas) moved 218 Mb/d of ethane in 3Q25, up 107% from throughput of 105 Mb/d in 2Q25. Flows ran ~28 Mb/d above ATEX’s 190 Mb/d nameplate capacity, highlighting the system’s ability to flex in response to market conditions.
The gains underscore two structural advantages that are becoming increasingly important in today’s NGL market: ATEX’s operational flexibility, and Enterprise’s fully integrated Gulf Coast system.
East Daley Analytics believes the startup of EPD’s Neches River was the primary catalyst for the jump. Enterprise in mid-July started Phase 1 of the terminal near Beaumont, TX. ATEX feeds directly into EPD’s broader Gulf Coast distribution network, which ultimately supplies Neches River. Ethane cargoes from the new terminal ramped quickly through September, creating a timely outlet for incremental barrels.
ATEX also likely picked up some displaced ethane volumes in the Northeast. A furnace at Shell’s (SEL) Monaca cracker in Pennsylvania exploded in June, cutting into regional demand. FERC filings show deliveries on Shell’s Falcon Pipeline, which feeds ethane to the Monaca facility, fell nearly 50% to 48 Mb/d in 2Q25. While Falcon throughput increased to 78 Mb/d in 3Q25, volumes remained about 20 Mb/d lower than the recent peak of 97 Mb/d in 4Q24.
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EPD was well positioned to arbitrage the regional dislocation, pulling discounted Northeast ethane south to fill its new export capacity. Shell also has some reserved capacity on ATEX, and may have used the pipeline to offload stranded barrels during the Monaca outage. In effect, ATEX functioned as a pressure-release valve, linking Appalachian oversupply with new waterborne demand.
Why this matters: The jump in 3Q25 demonstrates that ATEX can operate above its stated nameplate when market incentives are strong, and that EPD’s integrated footprint allows it to rapidly redirect barrels across regions.
East Daley does not view 3Q25 flows as a new steady state, and we expect volumes on ATEX to retreat toward historical levels when the Monaca cracker returns to full operations. However, the setup is instructive. As US ethane markets grow more entwined with exports, similar displacement episodes are likely to occur during cracker outages, maintenance events, or step-changes in export demand.
In other words, this is not the new normal, but it may be a preview. ATEX’s role is evolving from a steady baseload pipe into a swing asset that clears regional imbalances, reinforcing the strategic value of integrated systems as US NGL markets become more globally connected. – Julian Renton Tickers: EPD, SEL.
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