EPD Enterprise Products Partners LP

A Texas energy company will load the first cargo of U.S. crude oil to be shipped overseas.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said Wednesday that during the first week of January it will load 600,000 barrels of light, sweet crude pumped in South Texas into a tanker at its oil terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. The announcement comes less than a week after Congress passed new legislation that lifts the 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. oil.

Vitol Group, a Dutch oil-trading titan, is buying the crude oil, according to Enterprise. The oil will sail across the Atlantic Ocean to a Vitol subsidiary's refinery in Cressier, Switzerland, which supplies diesel and other fuels to Northern Europe, according to a person familiar with the matter. Vitol didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

"We are excited to announce our first contract to export U.S. crude oil, which to our knowledge may be the first export cargo of U.S. crude oil from the Gulf Coast in almost 40 years," said Jim Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise's general partner.

Infrastructure companies like Enterprise have been laying the groundwork for oil exports in the last couple of years by investing in dock space at ports and storage terminals that can hold fuel destined for overseas markets.

The Houston-based company has been expanding its footprint at the Texas Gulf Coast. In the spring of 2014, Enterprise was one of two Texas energy companies given special private rulings from the U.S. Commerce Department that allowed them http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ruling-would-allow-first-shipments-of-unrefined-oil-overseas-1403644494to reclassify a certain type of ultralight oil as a refined fuel, which is legal to export.

President Barack Obama signed the legislation that lifts the 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. crude less than a week ago. It was part of a larger omnibus federal spending bill that averted a government shutdown and offered new tax credits for renewable energy, including wind and solar.

The ban on exporting U.S. crude was put into place in 1975 in the wake of the Arab Oil Embargo, which created long lines at gas stations, soaring fuel prices and rationing for American drivers. Some limited oil exports, such as shipments to Canada that require federal permission, have been allowed as an exception to the rule because they are considered in the national interest.

Christian Berthelsen contributed to this article.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com and Lynn Cook at lynn.cook@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 23, 2015 13:45 ET (18:45 GMT)

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