Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) and Copano Energy LLC said Friday they are forming a 50-50 joint venture (JV) to provide midstream natural gas services to producers operating in the emerging Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas.

As a first phase the companies plan to construct a 22-mile, 24-inch diameter gas gathering pipeline with initial capacity of 350 MMcf/d. The pipeline, which is expected to be completed by the middle of next year, would originate in LaSalle County, TX, and terminate in Duval County. No financial details were provided.

“This new alliance will provide seamless bundled gathering, processing and transmission services to Eagle Ford Shale producers through the combination of our companies’ immediately available pipeline and processing capacities,” said Tom Martin, president of KMP’s Texas Intrastate Pipelines. “This new pipeline is the first step to expand our combined network in support of Eagle Ford Shale development.”

The JV is not yet a done deal. KMP and Copano have signed a letter of intent, which is subject to negotiating an extension of existing contracts between them, including processing and transportation agreements, KMP said. The transactions still require definitive agreements and certain approvals.

Copano COO Bruce Northcutt said that since the inception in August 2001 of Copano’s South Texas business model, “our commercial alliance with Kinder Morgan has played a key role in the growth of our midstream services business.”

The Eagle Ford continues to spark interest from gas producers, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (see Daily GPI, Nov. 4), Petrohawk Energy Corp.(see Daily GPI, Nov. 9), El Paso Corp. (see Daily GPI, Nov. 5), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (see Daily GPI, Oct. 27), ConocoPhillips (see Daily GPI, Oct. 29) and St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. (see Daily GPI, Feb. 25).

In September KMP midstream rival Enterprise Products Partners LP agreed to provide midstream gas services in the Eagle Ford Shale to an undisclosed producer (see Daily GPI, Sept. 16). And in August Tenaska Capital Management LLC and Energy Spectrum Partners V LP announced a JV to operate Frontier Gas Services LLC, which would develop midstream infrastructure in unconventional shale plays (see Daily GPI, Aug. 18).

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