Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a joint venture (JV) of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Copano Energy LLC, has executed two long-term agreements to provide transportation, processing and fractionation services to two operators in the Eagle Ford Shale, expanding its already significant contracted production in the South Texas play.

The JV said it has contracted with Petrohawk Energy Corp. for up to 50,000 MMBtu/d of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production from leases in LaSalle and McMullen counties in Texas, and with Rosetta Resources Inc. for up to 50,000 MMBtu/d from leases in Webb and Dimmit counties in Texas. Each agreement has an approximate term of 10 years.

With the latest agreements, the JV has contracted for a total of 550,000 MMBtu/d of Eagle Ford gas production, according to Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan’s intrastate pipeline group. “There continues to be strong interest from producers for additional capacity, and the joint venture is evaluating projects to expand its ability to handle natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale play,” he said.

In February Eagle Ford Gathering struck a long-term agreement to provide gathering, transportation, processing and fractionation services to Anadarko E&P Co. LP (see Shale Daily, Feb. 7).

The JV’s previously announced 30-inch diameter pipeline in the western Eagle Ford Shale play is under construction and is expected to begin service in the third quarter. After fully subscribing its initial capacity of 375,000 MMBtu/d, Eagle Ford Gathering recently announced plans to construct 72 miles of additional pipelines that will enable it to deliver gas to Formosa Hydrocarbons Co. for processing (see Shale Daily, Jan. 10). The additional pipelines, which are expected to be completed by year end, will enable the JV to more fully utilize the 600 MMcf/d capacity of its 30-inch diameter pipeline.

Last month Eagle Ford Gathering made a long-term agreement with Williams Partners LP to process Eagle Ford Shale production at Williams Partners’ Markham processing plant in Matagorda County, TX (see Shale Daily, June 17). The JV will construct a seven-mile, 20-inch diameter lateral to connect its previously announced crossover pipeline project to the Markham plant and install 3,400 hp of compression at a cost of about $27 million. The agreement will initially provide Eagle Ford Gathering with 100 MMcf/d of processing capacity at the Markham plant, with an option to increase capacity to up to 200 MMcf/d.