EPP, Enbridge, Anadarko advance Texas Express NGL pipeline

Enterprise Products Partners LP, Enbridge Energy Partners LP, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will move ahead with their Texas Express NGL pipeline, having executed long-term contracts for 232,000 b/d of its capacity. Starting near Skellytown in Carson County, Tex., the 20-in. OD TEP mainline will extend about 580 miles to Enterprise’s NGL fractionation and storage complex at Mont Belvieu, Tex., also providing access to other third-party facilities in the area (OGJ Online, Sept. 6, 2011).

Production from the Rockies, Permian basin, and Midcontinent will be delivered into TEP through Enterprise’s existing Mid-America Pipeline System, running north through Oklahoma into Conway, Kan., and south into the Permian basin. Enterprise described the project as a bolt-on expansion, enhancing the value its midstream assets.

The joint venture also includes two new NGL gathering systems. The first will connect TEP to natural gas processing plants in the Anadarko-Granite Wash production area in the Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma. The second NGL gathering system will connect the new pipeline to Barnett shale natural gas processing plants in central Texas.

Enterprise will build and operate the pipeline, while Enbridge will construct and operate the new gathering systems. TEP’s contracted shippers, which include unaffiliated shippers, have tendered 15-year, ship-or-pay transportation agreements for the 232,000 b/d. The contracts also include an option allowing shippers to increase their volume commitment.

Enterprise is conducting community outreach, surveys, and negotiating right-of-way agreements and expects the pipeline and related gathering systems to begin service second-quarter 2013, subject to regulatory approvals.

Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].