UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
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| Item 8.01 | Other Events. |
The Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), U.S. Department of Commerce, notified Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (the “Partnership”), by letter dated May 23, 2025, pursuant to Section 744.21(b) of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) (15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774), that a license is required for the export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) of items classified in the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)-8 code and description listed in the United States International Trade Commission’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2025):
| • | 29011010: Ethane and butane, saturated, having a purity of 95% or more by volume |
(referred to below as “Covered Ethane and Butane Products”), where a party to the transaction (including as a purchaser, intermediate consignee, ultimate consignee, or end-user) is located in China, or is a Chinese “military end user,” wherever located.
The BIS informed the Partnership that the BIS has determined that such exports, reexports, or transfers (in-country) pose an unacceptable risk of use in or diversion to a “military end use” in China or for a Chinese “military end user,” with a specific concern for their use in China’s military-civil fusion strategy.
Pursuant to the BIS notice, the BIS has required the Partnership to submit an application for a validated license prior to the export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) of any Covered Ethane and Butane Products when a party to the transaction is located in China, or is a Chinese “military end user,” wherever located, except for certain eligible license exceptions.
The Partnership owns and operates marine export terminals that handle natural gas liquids (“NGLs”), including Covered Ethane and Butane Products, and is currently evaluating its procedures and internal controls with respect to Covered Ethane and Butane Products and the potential scope of transactions involving such products that may be subject to the requirement to obtain a BIS license. At this time, the Partnership cannot determine whether the Partnership will be able to successfully obtain any required BIS license in a timely manner, or at all, for applicable transactions involving Covered Ethane and Butane Products.
Also at this time, the Partnership cannot determine how alternative markets and uses will develop nor the potential impact on the prices of ethane and butane, which are produced in the United States as co-products in the production of crude oil and natural gas. Ethane is typically used as a raw material in the production of ethylene, a basic petrochemical product. Finally, the Partnership cannot determine how this restriction may indirectly impact U.S. crude oil and natural gas production and prices.
For context, 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”) of which approximately 227,000 BPD, or 8 percent, were exported to Chinese markets. Total U.S. ethane exports in 2024 were approximately 492,000 BPD, of which approximately 46 percent were exported to China. The EIA expects U.S. ethane exports will increase to 530,000 BPD and 630,000 BPD in 2025 and 2026, respectively. The Partnership’s marine export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel loaded approximately 213,000 BPD of ethane in 2024, of which approximately 85,000 BPD, or 40 percent, were exported to Chinese markets. These 85,000 BPD of exports represented approximately 37 percent of total U.S. ethane exports to Chinese markets in 2024.
To the extent that the Partnership is unable to timely obtain any necessary license(s) as described in the BIS notice, the Partnership’s export services for Covered Ethane and Butane Products may be impacted. At this time, we are not able to ascertain whether these potential restrictions on the Partnership’s activities relating to Covered Ethane and Butane Products will have a material adverse effect (or any material effect) on the Partnership’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS PARTNERS L.P. | ||||||
| By: | Enterprise Products Holdings LLC, | |||||
| its General Partner | ||||||
| Date: May 29, 2025 | By: | /s/ R. Daniel Boss | ||||
| Name: | R. Daniel Boss | |||||
| Title: | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | |||||