Holly Energy Partners, L.P. and Plains All American Pipeline on Oct. 3 announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture, Cushing Connect Pipeline & Terminal LLC, for the development and construction of a new 160,000 barrel per day (bbl/d) common carrier crude oil pipeline that will connect the Cushing, Oklahoma crude oil hub to the Tulsa, Oklahoma refining complex owned by a subsidiary of HollyFrontier Corporation and the ownership and operation of 1.5 million barrels (MMbbl) of crude oil storage in Cushing, Oklahoma.

The JV Terminal is expected to be in service during the second quarter of 2020, and the pipeline is expected to be in service during the first quarter of 2021. Long-term commercial agreements have been entered into to support the Joint Venture assets.

“The new Joint Venture will provide growth to HEP by insourcing logistics spend and provide the capability to supply 100% of HFC’s Tulsa Refinery crude throughput,” said George Damiris, CEO of the general partner of Holly Energy Partners. “Our partnership with Plains generates HEP growth while providing HFC long-term control of a strategic asset.”

The Joint Venture will contract with an affiliate of HEP to manage the construction and operation of the Pipeline and with an affiliate of Plains to manage the operation of the JV Terminal. The total Joint Venture investment will be shared proportionately among the partners and is estimated to total approximately $130 million, including the existing JV Terminal contributed by Plains valued at approximately $40 million. The Joint Venture is expected to generate an initial annual EBITDA multiple of approximately 8x to 9x once the JV Terminal and Pipeline are placed into Joint Venture service.

“This win-win Joint Venture aligns with our strategy of optimizing existing assets to provide value-chain solutions for long-term industry partners in a capital efficient manner,” said Jeremy Goebel, Executive Vice President – Commercial, Plains All American. “This investment expands our relationship with a key operational hub service customer and provides additional long-term alignment on movements to the Tulsa refinery.”