TEPPCO Partners LP has asked permission from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to sell its interest in the Mont Belvieu natural gas liquids (NGL) storage facility located in southeastern Texas to partner Louis Dreyfus Energy Services LP. Financial details were not disclosed.

Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. LLC, an indirect subsidiary of EPCO, Inc., is the general partner of TEPPCO Partners. It was acquired last year by Texas oilman Dan L. Duncan’s privately owned EPCO Inc., which also controls Enterprise Products Partners LP (see NGI, Feb. 28, 2005).

According to an FTC filing last week, TEPPCO and several other entities controlled by Duncan applied for FTC approval to divest their interests in Mont Belvieu Storage Partners LP (MBSP) and certain pipelines, land and other assets in and around the salt dome storage facilities. MBSP was formed in 2003 as a 50-50 partnership between Texas Eastern and Louis Dreyfus Energy Services.

To avoid an antitrust challenge, TEPPCO agreed in August to sell its partnership interest to an approved buyer by the end of this year. Louis Dreyfus Energy holds the rights of first refusal to buy the interest on the same terms proposed by any third party, according to the FTC.

The FTC will accept public comments on the proposed divestiture until Dec. 27, after which it will determine whether to approve it. Comments should be sent to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20580. The case is FTC Docket No. C-4173. Staff contact is Daniel P. Ducore, Bureau of Competition, (202) 326-2526. Copies of the documents are available at www.ftc.gov.

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