ETP Builds New Pipeline - Analyst Blog

Construction has begun on the Fayetteville Express Pipeline (FEP), a 50/50 joint venture between Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (ETP) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (KMP).

With an initial capacity to transport up to 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas, the pipeline will serve the Fayetteville Shale-producing region in Arkansas. This is a 42-inch, approximately 185-mile pipeline.

Energy Transfer Partners is the operator of this pipeline and will manage the construction program. Total project cost is anticipated at $1.25 billion. FEP will start off in Conway County, Arkansas, continue eastward through White County, Arkansas, and terminate at an interconnection with Trunkline Gas Company in Panola County, Mississippi. The pipeline will be operative by the end of this year.

This is not a one-off joint venture initiative with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. In the middle of last year, ETP and KMP started full operations on the Mid-continent Express Pipeline (MEP). This was also a 50/50 joint venture between the two partnerships. The pipeline provides access for shippers and producers in the Barnett Shale, Bossier Sands and other producing regions to markets in the eastern U.S.

With the largest intrastate system in Texas and expanding interstate assets, Energy Transfer is connected to nearly every natural gas shale play in North America, including the Haynesville, Barnett and Fayetteville shales. The partnership is ideally positioned to benefit from increasing production from unconventional sources of natural gas. Consequently, we upgraded ETP units to Neutral last week.

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