El Paso Energy Partners LP completed its previously announced acquisitions of the Chaco processing facility and Deepwater Holdings LLC from El Paso Corp. Chaco is a cryogenic natural gas processing facility located in northern New Mexico’s San Juan Basin and is connected to El Paso Field Services’ extensive natural gas gathering system. It is the third-largest natural gas processing plant in the United States with processing capacity of 700,000 Dth/d and natural gas liquids (NGL) production capacity of 50,000 b/d. EPN retains an existing lease with El Paso Field Services. In conjunction with the Chaco acquisition, EPN entered into a 20-year, fixed-rate tolling agreement to process natural gas for El Paso Field Services. The Chaco transactions are valued at $198.5 million. Deepwater Holdings owns the High Island Offshore System, which serves the Outer Continental Shelf region of the western Gulf of Mexico and the East Breaks Gathering System, which serves the deepwater trend of the western Gulf of Mexico region. Prior to the acquisition, EPN operated and held a 50% interest in Deepwater Holdings. EPN acquired the remaining 50% interest from a subsidiary of El Paso Corp. and retired project debt for a total transaction value of $85 million.

Piedmont Natural Gas customer rates in the Carolinas are headed down again due to continued reductions in the company’s wholesale cost of natural gas. For the sixth time in North Carolina and the fourth time in South Carolina since last winter, the Charlotte-based natural gas utility has filed to lower its rates. As a result, Piedmont’s customers should see their natural gas bills decline by 25-30% this winter compared to last winter, assuming normal weather. If approved by state regulators, Piedmont’s November residential rates will be lower than they were last November. Assuming normal weather, customer bills for December and January weather should be substantially lower than for the same months last winter, and even lower than the 25-30% reduction now forecast for the entire winter period. December weather in the Carolinas last year was 37% colder than normal, which combined with high wholesale gas prices, produced customer bills as much as double those of the previous year in some months. Piedmont serves 700,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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