Enterprise To Establish A Natural Gas Services And Marketing Business

Houston — Enterprise Products Partners L.P., one of the industry's leading natural gas pipeline, processing and storage asset operators, announced that it is forming a natural gas services and marketing business similar to its existing natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemical services and marketing business. This group will be the focal point for all of Enterprise's existing natural gas supply and marketing activities, which currently include producer wellhead services, facility fuel procurement, pipeline and storage capacity optimization, and a full range of market customer delivery arrangements. This initiative is expected to broaden Enterprise's role in the natural gas markets by linking its extensive U.S. natural gas assets, providing its customers with value-added solutions and reducing Enterprise's operating costs through enhanced fuel procurement practices.

Enterprise's current portfolio of natural gas assets includes:

• More than 20,000 miles of onshore and offshore natural gas pipelines with connections to about 15 intrastate and more than 25 interstate pipelines that serve some of the largest markets in the United States;
  
• Planned ownership and capacity on the new Sherman Extension and Gulf Crossing natural gas pipeline projects serving the growing Barnett Shale production area in North Texas;
  
• 23 existing natural gas processing plants located in Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico with a combined net processing capacity of more than 7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd);
  
• Three new Rocky Mountain natural gas processing plants under development in the Green River and Piceance basins adding 2 Bcfd of processing capacity;
  
• Four existing underground salt dome storage facilities with 25 Bcf of working natural gas storage capacity located in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana;
  
• Storage expansion projects totaling 38 Bcf of working natural gas storage capacity; and
  
• Seven offshore Gulf of Mexico production platforms with capacity to process approximately 2 Bcfd of natural gas production.

Enterprise's pipelines, processing plants and production platforms today handle over 10 Bcfd of natural gas, or approximately 20 percent of the nation's daily natural gas production from the lower 48 states. This volume is expected to grow significantly as projects currently under development, like the Independence Hub and Trail, the Sherman Extension pipeline and the Meeker and Pioneer processing plants, are completed and begin operations. Enterprise's current natural gas marketing and procurement activities total nearly 1 Bcfd.

"Enterprise is a vital part of America's energy delivery network," said Robert G. Phillips, Enterprise president and chief executive officer. "Creating a dedicated natural gas services and marketing team is the logical next step for the partnership as we expand and optimize our natural gas franchise creating additional demand for our hard assets and incremental growth opportunities. Further, this new initiative will be modeled after the partnership's successful NGL marketing group, which is a critical link in the Enterprise integrated midstream value chain."

"In addition, this group will allow us to better coordinate our natural gas purchasing activities," continued Phillips. "As a result of our partnership's rapid growth in recent years, multiple groups throughout the organization are currently purchasing natural gas as fuel for our processing, fractionation and compressor facilities; for operational reliability of our pipelines; and for sales to our industrial and utility customers. We believe the formation of this group will enable us to link our natural gas assets, lower our operating expenses and realize higher margins on current and future throughput. Jim Teague, Enterprise's executive vice president with responsibility for its NGL marketing group and NGL pipeline and processing services, will lead the formation and development of the natural gas services and marketing business. This will ensure that we have consistency with the principles and controls that have made the NGL group so successful," concluded Phillips.

SOURCE: Enterprise Products Partners L.P.