Devon Energy Corp. has signed an agreement to sell 1,800 miles of gas gathering pipelines and related compression, a gas plant and four treating plants in East Texas to an affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners LP for an undisclosed amount.

The sale, to Tulsa-based LaGrange Acquisition LP, will include Devon’s Texas Chalk and Madison gas gathering systems, which include the Madison Gas Plant in Madison County, TX, with processing capacity of 80 MMcf/d. It also includes four treating plants, a fractionator and a condensate stabilization facility, which are located near College Station, TX.

“This transaction is the latest in a series of dispositions of acquired assets that we considered to be non-core,” said Darryl G. Smette, senior vice president of marketing and midstream. “Devon continually looks for opportunities to streamline our operations by growing in our focus areas and shedding non-core assets.”

Devon acquired the assets in 2001 in its $3.1 billion acquisition of Mitchell Energy and Development Co. (see Daily GPI, Aug. 15, 2001). The Oklahoma City-based producer said it would not amend the forecast of its company-wide 2004 midstream operating margin as a result of the sale.

Energy Transfer’s gas operations already include 6,500 miles of gathering and transportation pipelines with an aggregate throughput capacity of 3.8 Bcf/d, with treating and processing assets located in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The partnership is the fourth largest retail marketer of propane in the United States, serving more than 650,000 customers from over 300 customer service locations in 31 states, with concentration in the western, upper midwestern, northeastern, and southeastern regions.

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