Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) will “significantly expand” its Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM) project in South Texas and construct a processing facility in Jackson County, TX, to accommodate more than 540,000 MMBtu/d of new commitments for long-term fee-based services from multiple producers, the partnership said Thursday.

Producers contracting for gas gathering, processing and natural gas liquids (NGL) services include Rosetta Resources Operating LP, SM Energy Co., and a unit of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., ETP said.

“Along with our recently completed Dos Hermanas Pipeline [see Shale Daily, Oct. 19]; the Chisholm Pipeline, scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2011, and the recently announced acquisition of LDH Energy Asset Holdings [see Shale Daily, March 24], the partnership’s ability to provide its shippers with the full array of gas transportation, processing and NGL handling services demonstrates our commitment to deliver the services desired by our customers for Eagle Ford Shale development,” said Brian Beebe, Energy Transfer senior vice president.

The REM expansion, which will extend from ETP’s Chisholm Pipeline in DeWitt County east into Jackson County, would add roughly 70 miles of 36-inch diameter pipe to the initial 160-mile, 30-inch diameter REM pipeline. REM was announced in February (see Shale Daily, Feb. 22).

When fully constructed the REM pipeline would consist of about 230 miles of 30-inch and 36-inch diameter pipe with a capacity of at least 600 MMcf/d. Completion of the initial phase remains scheduled for the fourth quarter, and completion of the expansion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2013, ETP said.

The Jackson County gas processing plant would have about 600 MMcf/d of capacity and could be expanded to 800 MMcf/d. The plant is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2013. Total cost of the REM expansion and Jackson County processing facility is expected to be about $450 million.

In a recent report Bentek Energy LLC projected that Eagle Ford dry gas production, mostly located in the southern portion of the Eagle Ford, would increase from 1.4 Bcf/d to more than 3.5 Bcf/d by 2014. The firm said about 2.4 Bcf/d of gathering and transmission, 350,000 b/d of fractionation capacity and nearly 600,000 b/d of oil pipeline capacity is planned for the play before the end of 2012 (see Shale Daily, April 19).