Enterprise extends open season for capacity on ATEX Express pipeline

HOUSTON, Texas - Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) announced on Jan. 10 that it is conducting a two-week supplemental open commitment period to accommodate additional shipper demand on the partnership's Appalachia to Texas pipeline ("ATEX Express").

Earlier in January, Enterprise said that it had received sufficient long-term transportation commitments to move forward with development of the 1,230-mile ATEX Express pipeline, which will deliver growing ethane production from the Marcellus/Utica Shale areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"Since our announcement to proceed with development of the ATEX Express pipeline, we have received multiple inquires from producers seeking transportation capacity," said A.J. "Jim" Teague, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Enterprise's general partner. "We will use this extended open commitment period to execute additional binding, 15-year transportation agreements." 

The open commitment period ends Jan. 23.

TransCanada secures agreements for Marketlink pipeline throughput

CALGARY, Alta., and BISMARCK, N.D. - TransCanada Corp. has secured shipper commitments for 65 per cent of its proposed Bakken Marketlink oil pipeline from Montana to the benchmark Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma.

TransCanada said on Jan. 20 that it secured firm commitments of 65,000 b/d from shippers during the month-long open season that closed Nov. 19. The Calgary-based company said it signed five-year contracts with producers tapping the rich Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana to transport crude on the proposed 1,980-mile-long Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to move crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.

TransCanada said the 100,000 b/d capacity line, which will link to its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, will open production from the Bakken region to markets in the U.S. Midwest and Texas.

"These agreements are a clear indication of producer support for the first direct link between the prolific Bakken crude oil producing region in the Williston Basin and key U.S. markets near Cushing, Okla., and the U.S. Gulf Coast, the largest refining market in North America," said chief executive Russ Girling in a statement.