Our History
Humble history, powerful possibilities.
From our humble beginnings more than 25 years ago, we have evolved and expanded into one of the largest independent midstream energy companies in North America.
And we’re just getting started.
1981
Plains Resources
begins as a small oil and gas exploration and production company.
1989
A midstream subsidiary
is created to market oil and gas from Plains and other producers.
1992–1993
A shifting focus to crude oil
inspires Plains to build and acquire terminals, gathering systems, pipelines, trucks, and other midstream assets.
1993–1994
Cushing Terminal
is constructed in Oklahoma, which was the largest infrastructure development west of the Mississippi at the time, with a 2 million barrel crude storage facility. Plains also acquired additional land for future development and has since expanded storage capacity to 27 million barrels.
1998
All American Pipeline
is acquired and an initial public offering (IPO) of Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (PAA) is completed, resulting in the public listing of PAA common units.
1999
Scurlock Permian and Chevron West Texas Pipelines
are both acquired by Plains.
2001
A separation of the Plains business
occurs when a management and investor group acquires a controlling interest in PAA’s general partner from Plains Resources and separates the midstream business from the exploration and production business.
2001
CANPET and Murphy Oil companies
are acquired and the consolidation of their midstream crude oil assets forms Plains Midstream Canada.
2005–2006
St. James Terminal
is constructed in two phases on 2,500 acres along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. After continued expansions over the years, the terminal is now a 12.5-million-barrel crude storage and terminalling facility that includes a private dock, creating a hub for Plains on the Gulf Coast.
2006
Pacific Energy Partners
is acquired in a merger with Plains, and Plains makes eight additional acquisitions.
2008–2013
Patoka Terminal
is opened in Illinois, providing initial direct access to Canadian crude through the 2.8-million-barrel storage hub. Patoka grows through a series of five expansion projects to become a 6.1-million-barrel storage hub.
2012
Canadian NGL assets
are acquired from BP by Plains Midstream Canada.
2013
IPO of PAA’s General Partner
is completed, resulting in the public listing of Class A shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (PAGP).
2016
Red River Pipeline
enters service and is capable of moving 110,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma to Longview, Texas.
2017
Alpha Crude Connector Gathering System
is acquired in the Permian Basin. The Diamond Pipeline, a joint venture with Valero and the largest organic pipeline system construction project in the company’s history, enters service.
2018
Celebrating 20 years
of Plains All American being publicly listed.
2019
Cactus II Pipeline
enters service as a joint venture with Enbridge. The system is capable of transporting 670,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Wink to Corpus Christi, Texas.
2021
Plains Oryx Permian Basin
is formed as a joint venture between Plains and Oryx Midstream Services. The combined system includes ~5,500 miles of pipeline, ~6.8 million barrels per day of pipeline capacity, and ~16.9 million barrels operational storage capacity.
2022–2024
Plains’ bolt-on strategy
captures incremental opportunities to extend and expand our system, including ~$545 million in net investment through nine bolt-on acquisitions.