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In it for the Long Haul: Profile of Vopak Moda Houston

Tank Storage Magazine

Jon Ackerman from Vopak Moda Houston tells Tank Storage Magazine about the first greenfield terminal in the Port of Houston in more than a decade. 

In December 2021, Vopak Moda Houston, a terminal in the Port of Houston, US, announced that it was fully operational. But this was not any old terminal. Vopak Moda Houston was the first greenfield terminal developed in the Port for more than ten years, built to handle anhydrous ammonia and speciality pressurised gases.

The terminal is operated as a joint venture, set up in 2016 between Vopak and Moda Midstream. Moda Midstream was at the time barely a year old, having been set up in early 2015 with equity backing of US$750 million from EnCap Flatrock Midstream and the Moda management team. Including efforts at Moda and prior experience at Oiltanking, the management team has owned and developed almost US$10 billion (€10 billion) in liquid storage assets along the Gulf Coast.

“The joint venture brings together Moda’s development expertise and market knowledge with Royal Vopak’s more than 400 years of history to establish flagship infrastructure in the Houston Ship Channel. We are particularly proud to have developed the terminal here in Houston, our hometown and one of the most important markets in our industry,” says co-founder and CEO of Moda Midstream Jon Ackerman.