Energy Transfer seeks federal approval for Tiger Pipeline expansion

DALLAS, Texas - Energy Transfer Partners has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to allow the construction and operation of the ETC Tiger Pipeline Expansion Project, Phase I.
The Tiger expansion is expected to add 400 million cubic feet per day of capacity to the ETC Tiger Pipeline system, bringing total capacity to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day, all of which is sold out under long-term contracts ranging from 10 to 15 years.
Luke Fletcher, vice president of Energy Transfer Partners Interstate Pipeline Division, said: “This expansion of the Tiger System will provide vital take away capacity from the Haynesville Shale and Middle Bossier shale production areas in Louisiana and East Texas, to markets in the eastern half of the US.”
Construction began earlier this month on the original 42-inch Tiger Pipeline, a 175-mile interstate natural gas pipeline originating in Panola County, Texas, and terminating in Richland Parish, La.
The Tiger Pipeline will interconnect to seven interstate pipelines and one intrastate pipeline for final delivery to markets across the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
The Tiger Pipeline, which will have an initial capacity of two billion cubic feet per day, is expected to be in service in the first quarter of 2011. The Tiger Expansion is expected to be in service in the last half of 2011.

Tiger Pipeline construction stopped by cemetery in path

FRIERSON, La. – Construction of a major pipeline project that just got under way has been brought to a halt after the contractor encountered a 150-year old cemetery in its path.
The Tiger Pipeline is a 42-inch natural gas pipeline that will stretch 175 miles across North Louisiana, from Carthage, Texas, to the eastern edge of Richland Parish.
Construction is just getting under way on the $1 billion project, but work in DeSoto Parish is at a standstill after the discovery of what the company calls an "unexpected burial site."
The owner of the land granted Energy Transfer Partners right-of-way access across his 800 acres of pasture in Frierson.
Reggie Rowe says also he warned them of the hilltop cemetery, "but they come in here after I told them not to come in here and knocked the tombstones over."
Rowe says there were five stone markers at the site, which used to be surrounded by a small wrought iron fence and filled with wildflowers. "According to the monuments and the names, it was a family of five: husband, wife and three kids. One of them was a one-year-old baby."
Rowe says the dates on the markers ranged from 1864 to 1907, and belonged to members of the Lafitte family. "There are still a lot of Lafittes in DeSoto Parish."
The company building the Tiger Pipeline says there was no mention of the cemetery in any of the records searched by the company as they planned the route.
"When beginning to clear the right of way, a headstone was detected and work was stopped immediately," explains Vicki Anderson Granado of Granado Communications Group, a Dallas-based public relations firm contracted by Energy Transfer Partners.
Granado says the company has called in the services of an archeologist to ensure it could determine the boundaries of the cemetery so the route of the pipeline could be altered." As of June 9, the archaeologist had counted 10 graves.
"The family was marked with tombstones and the rest of the people were buried around them with just wooden crosses, and that's why they're finding more graves than what was marked," explains Rowe.
Granado says, "The company will do everything it can to repair any disturbance to the cemetery and regrets that this situation ever came about."

Energy Transfer Partners begins construction of Tiger Pipeline

DALLAS, Texas - Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) on June 1 announced that construction has begun on the 175-mile Tiger Pipeline, an interstate natural gas pipeline to serve the Haynesville Shale and Bossier Sands producing regions in Louisiana and East Texas.
The 42-inch Tiger Pipeline will have an initial capacity of two billion cubic feet per day and is expected to be in service in the first quarter of 2011. Through a planned expansion project announced in February, and subject to FERC approval, the ultimate capacity of the Tiger Pipeline is expected to be 2.4 billion cubic feet per day, all of which is sold out under long-term contracts ranging from 10 to 15 years. Pending necessary regulatory approvals, the expansion is expected to be in service in the last half of 2011.
The Tiger Pipeline will originate in Panola County, Texas, and terminate in Richland Parish, La., interconnecting to seven interstate pipelines and one intrastate pipeline for ultimate delivery to markets across the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
Construction of the pipeline has been awarded to two contractors: Henkels & McCoy (78 miles) and Michels Corp. (97 miles). Pre-expansion project costs for the Tiger Pipeline are expected to be $1.095 billion, down nearly $70 million from previous estimates.
"The start of construction on the Tiger Pipeline marks an exciting achievement for us as we are on schedule and under budget," said Lee Hanse, senior vice president, Interstate Pipeline Division. "From a financial perspective the Tiger Pipeline will benefit our unitholders as it will provide significant distributable cash flow in 2011 and subsequent years."

Energy Transfer to build Tiger gas pipeline through Haynesville Shale

HOUSTON - Energy Transfer Partners LP said on Jan. 27 that it will build a 178-mile, 42-inch interstate natural gas pipeline from Texas to Louisiana through the heart of the Haynesville Shale.
The Tiger Pipeline is expected to cost between $1 and $1.2 billion to construct, depending upon final throughput capacity design, with costs incurred over a three-year period, the company said in a news release.
Initial capacity of at least 1.25 billion cubic feet per day may be increased up to two bcf per day based on the results of an open season, the company said.
Energy Transfer agreed to a 15-year firm transportation pact with Chesapeake Energy Corp unit Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. for approximately one bcf per day of capacity.
The project will connect to ETP's pipeline system near Carthage, Texas, extend through the Haynesville Shale and end near Delhi, La., interconnecting to at least seven interstate pipelines at various points in Louisiana.