Building on a series of midstream asset purchases, Enbridge Inc. has agreed to buy gas gathering and processing facilities in northeastern Texas from Sulphur River Gathering LP for US$178 million. The Sulphur River facilities, which currently gather 210 MMcf/d, are contiguous with assets in East Texas recently acquired by Enbridge Energy Partners from Koch Midstream Services for $230.5 million (see Daily GPI, Oct. 26, 2001). The Sulphur River acquisition increases the portfolio of assets available to Enbridge for potential sale to the limited partnership in 2002.

“This acquisition furthers our objective to increase Enbridge’s North American footprint,” said Dan C. Tutcher, group vice president of Enbridge unit Energy Transportation South. “The Sulphur River facilities are highly complementary with our existing asset base in the Gulf Coast region and provide another link in our strategy to increase the scale and scope of our U.S. operations. Since the acquisition of Midcoast Energy Resources in May of 2001, we have been actively pursuing opportunities that will position us for profitable growth” (see Daily GPI, March 19, 2001).

The Sulphur River facilities include 1,100 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, six gas treating plants with an elemental sulphur capacity of more than 900 long tons per day, three gas processing plants with a capacity of 245 MMcf/d, and two nitrogen rejection plants with a capacity of 75 MMcf/d. The acquisition is expected to close in early March.

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