Locke Lord Represents Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp. in Transaction Involving Purchase and Sale Agreement With Energy Transfer Partners Affiliate

A Locke Lord team represented Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp. and its China-based parent in a transaction involving the negotiation of a long-term purchase and sale agreement, as well as certain investment-related agreements, with an affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP). Under the agreements, ETP will supply multi-million tons of ethane per year for over a decade to Satellite Petrochemical for eventual consumption by its parent company in China, which is in the process of building China’s first ethylene plant designed to use ethane as feed stock. The joint venture investment, $296 million from Satellite Petrochemical and a slightly larger amount from ETP, is for the construction of a new pipeline for ethane transportation, chiller and storage facility at the terminal to enable the export of ethane. While there have been many parties in China expressing interest for similar deals, Satellite Petrochemical is the first China-based buyer to have completed such a transaction with a foreign ethane supplier. Tom Tong (Dallas) led the team, which included Eric Larson (Houston) for joint venture matters. They were supported by Chris Verducci (Houston) on litigation provisions, Ann Ryan Robertson (Houston) on arbitration issues, John Arnold (Houston) and Tom Knight (Washington, D.C.) on state and federal pipeline regulatory issues, Jaremi Chilton (San Francisco) on tax issues and Tammi Niven (Houston) on the financial guarantee terms.
Posted April 4, 2018