Crosstex Energy LP said it has agreed to be a foundation shipper with a 10-year agreement for 150,000 Dth/d of firm transportation capacity on Boardwalk Pipeline Partners’ proposed Gulf Crossing Pipeline system, a 355-mile, 42-inch diameter pipeline project that would provide a new 1.65 Bcf/d transportation corridor from the Barnett Shale play in Texas to the Perryville Hub in North Louisiana.

The $1.1 billion Gulf Crossing project, which was announced earlier this month, is expected to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2008 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 13).

Crosstex said it will expand its 24-inch diameter North Texas Pipeline (NTPL) system, which is upstream of Gulf Crossing, in the first quarter of 2007 to a total capacity of 375,000 MMBtu/d. NTPL began to serve customers in April 2006. It will interconnect with Gulf Crossing in Lamar County, TX.

Through that connection, Gulf Crossing will provide Crosstex’s customers in North and East Texas with greater and more direct access to premium Midwest and East Coast markets through the Perryville Hub and through Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp.’s Station 85.

“Continued drilling success in the Barnett Shale has created the need for new pipeline capacity,” said Crosstex CEO Barry E. Davis. “We’ve been working with Barnett Shale producers for some time to develop access to the premium Midwest and East Coast markets. Our agreement with Boardwalk to be a foundation shipper on its Gulf Crossing Pipeline is the result of these efforts. Crosstex will continue to focus on expanding its natural gas processing, treating and gathering services in this prolific basin.”

Meanwhile, Enterprise Products Partners LP affiliate Enterprise Texas Pipeline LP said Friday that it is taking requests for capacity on its recently announced $400 million Sherman Extension intrastate pipeline, which also would be upstream of the Gulf Crossing project.

The 30- and 36-inch diameter Sherman Extension would be a new 178-mile pipeline that will provide up to 1.1 Bcf/d of takeaway capacity for production in the Barnett Shale area and in the Waha area of West Texas to an interconnect with Gulf Crossing.

Enterprise and Devon Energy, the largest Barnett Shale producer, recently also agreed to be foundation shippers on Gulf Crossing with 850 MMcf/d of the proposed capacity under 10-year contracts and options for an additional 350 MMcf/d (see Daily GPI, Nov. 13). Enterprise said Friday that its marketing subsidiary, Enterprise Gas Marketing LP, is accepting indications of interest for the assignment of its firm transportation capacity on the Gulf Crossing Expansion Project and the Sherman Extension. For information, contact Mark Pyburn at (713) 803-7883 or mpyburn@eprod.com, or Rockey Storie at (713) 803-7884 or rstorie@eprod.com.

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