Magellan becoming a player in pipeline, storage market

ercent amid increased demand for storage.

Magellan also has seen good returns from $100 million in investments in ethanol infrastructure since 2006.

Wellendorf said Magellan is poised to become a key supplier of crude oil to refineries in the Houston area, thanks to its acquisition of 100 miles of pipeline from BP in September.

The $289 million deal included 7.8 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity in Cushing, where Magellan already is building 4.25 million barrels of storage.

Wellendorf said Magellan also has 75 million barrels of storage capacity for refined products, with an additional 8 million barrels of storage under construction.

"We're a very big player in the transportation of refined products,” he said. "We're also a very big player in the storage of crude oil and refined products.”

Wellendorf said increasing demand likely will head to higher storage rates and additional construction.

He said Magellan's assets are the reason the partnership has increased its distribution every quarter this year, a trend that is expected to continue into the future.

"I'd say that's a pretty attractive package,” Wellendorf said.