HOUSTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday that companies using its crude oilstorage facility in the Houston Ship Channel must pay extra fordock services, brushing off complaints from client BP Plc.
"We believe if you want a service, you pay for it,"Enterprise Chief Operating Officer Jim Teague told analysts whenasked about concerns, first reported by the Wall Street Journal,that the company's strong position in Gulf Coast storage givesit too much pricing power.
Britain's BP has reportedly told the U.S. Federal TradeCommission that Enterprise, a major midstream company, hasstarted charging $1 a barrel in dock fees for crude it handlesat the Houston site, on top of storage fees.
Since Houston is the top U.S. petrochemicals port, the dockfees could add up to big revenue.
But BP has not yet filed a formal written complaint to theFTC, an industry source said, and it is not clear if it wouldhave a case. A BP official did not comment. The FTC was notavailable for immediate comment.
Teague said Enterprise itself had paid for dock services atthe facility before buying it from Oiltanking Partners LP in October. The $4.4 billion deal gave Enterprisecontrol over the lion's share of the region's commerciallyavailable crude oil storage tanks.
Storage and tank space are in high demand amid a global glutof oil and as U.S. companies, as well as BP, increasingly moveto export a type of very light crude known as condensate.Companies are lightly distilling condensate so it qualifies as arefined product that can be shipped overseas.
Teague said Enterprise was honoring every contract itinherited when it bought Oiltanking.
"There were some people that had storage, but in theircontacts did not have dock rights," he said, noting they mighthave had waivers in the past.
"Anyone that would like to sign a contract like (Enterprise)signed, we'd be all for it," he said.
At the time of the acquisition, Enterprise was Oiltanking'slargest customer, with 30 percent of its capacity. But otherlarge Oiltanking customers have included BP, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell.
The Oiltanking buy gave Enterprise 11 million barrels ofcrude oil storage capacity on the Houston Ship Channel andanother 6.2 million barrels planned for buildout in Beaumont,Texas. (Reporting by Houston Newsroom; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)