Company will invest millions to expand Louisiana pipeline

A Crosstex Energy partnership is completing engineering studies, pipeline routing work and environmental permitting to expand its facilities through a new natural gas liquids pipeline. The project will improve the supply to the Louisiana petrochemical and refinery markets, which have been negatively impacted by declining supply from the Gulf Coast. The new pipeline will be an extension of the partnership’s 440-mile Cajun-Sibon NGL pipeline, which is connected to its Eunice NGL fractionation facilities in south central Louisiana, expanding capacity in Louisiana to approximately 97,000 barrels per day. The partnership is expected to invest $180 million to $220 million in the project. Crosstex Energy has entered into a long-term ethane sales agreement with Williams Olefins, a subsidiary of the Williams Companies. “This is an exciting opportunity for Crosstex and gives us a tremendous growth platform as we expand our integrated NGL system and optimize our assets,” says Crosstex President and Chief Executive Officer Barry E. Davis. “There is increasing demand for fractionation and NGL handling as producers pursue the development of liquids-rich natural gas shale plays.” Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012, and the facilities are expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2013. For the rest of 10/12 Corridor Weekly, click here.