NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. midstream energy company Enterprise Products Partners LP on Wednesday said its natural gas pipeline volumes reached a record level in the second quarter of 2022.
Enterprise's total natural gas transportation volumes increased 19% to 16.8 trillion British thermal units per day (TBtus/d) in the second quarter from 14.2 TBtus/d in the same period of 2021.
Enterprise also reported a record total gross operating margin of $2.4 billion and record distributable cash flow of $2 billion.
The company's natural gas processing and octane enhancement businesses drove the results, said A.J. Teague, co-chief executive officer of Enterprise's general partner.
Higher natural gas liquids (NGL) prices contributed to an increase in average processing margins for Enterprise's natural gas processing business, the company said in its second quarter earnings release.
Enterprise's NGL fractionation business reported gross operating margin of $201 million for the second quarter of 2022, versus year-ago levels at $257 million. Total NGL fractionation volumes were 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) compared to 1.2 million bpd.
Enterprise estimates that between now and 2027 NGLs out of the Permian Basin will grow about 1 million bpd, said Anthony Chovanec, senior vice president at Enterprise, during the company's earnings conference call.
On Wednesday, Enterprise announced three expansions in the Permian to support production growth there, according to a separate news release. The projects include the addition of two natural gas processing plants and the expansion of the company's NGL pipeline system.
For the company's crude oil pipeline and services segment, gross operating margin was $407 million in the quarter compared to $419 million a year earlier, the company said.
Total crude oil pipeline transportation volumes increased to 2.2 million bpd from 2 million bpd.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Chizu Nomiyama)
