Kaye Scholer Helps Gravity Midstream Acquire Crude Oil Terminal

Kaye Scholer Helps Gravity Midstream to Acquire Crude Oil Terminal on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel

Kaye Scholer has helped Houston-based client, Gravity Midstream, LLC ("Gravity"), and its wholly owned subsidiary, Gravity Midstream Corpus Christi, LLC, acquire a 44-acre crude oil logistics terminal located on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel in the heart of the area’s refining center. The fully permitted facility will serve traders, producers and refiners of crude oil and condensate produced in the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin. Gravity expects to bring the terminal into service in September 2015 under the name Gravity Oil Terminal at Corpus Christi (“GOTAC” or the “GOTAC Terminal”), and to connect the terminal to major supply pipelines originating in the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin by mid-2016.

 Gravity acquires, develops and operates midstream energy assets with a specific focus on providing logistics solutions for crude oil and petroleum products. It was formed in 2013 with an initial private equity commitment of $150 million from EnCap Flatrock Midstream, which is preparing to make a substantial increase to the size of its initial commitment to the Gravity team.

 Gravity Midstream Corpus Christi, LLC acquired the facility from Trigeant, Ltd. for $100 million. The existing infrastructure at GOTAC includes 800,000 barrels of tankage with access to an additional planned 2 million barrels of storage capacity, deep water dock access, a crude processing unit with current capacity to process up to 25,000 barrels per day of heavy crude, and rail and truck loading and unloading facilities.

 The transaction was part of a Chapter 11 plan approved by a Florida bankruptcy court in May 2015. Kaye Scholer Corporate Partner, Steve Canner, and Bankruptcy and Restructuring Partner, Benjamin Mintz, served as lead legal counsel to Gravity.

 “We are pleased to have helped our client acquire this unique facility,” said Steve Canner, who led the Kaye Scholer team on this deal. “Gravity looks forward to commissioning and expanding the GOTAC Terminal, which will provide a significant hub for oil transport in the area.”