HOUSTON, Feb. 19, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) (the "Partnership") announced today that it has completed inlet line modifications to bring the new Weatherford natural gas processing plant up to expected operating capacity. Constructed last year, the $93 million facility in Parker County adds about 75 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) of gas processing capacity to the Partnership's system.
"The Weatherford plant is well situated to process natural gas production from the Barnett Shale, which has increased from virtually nil in 1999 to well over 2 billion cubic feet per day currently," said Terrance L. McGill, president of the Partnership's management company and of its general partner. "We are already making plans for additional enhancements to our gathering and processing business to meet the nation's growing need for natural gas sourced from this key production area."
With the completion of the Weatherford plant, the Partnership has added approximately 195 MMcfd of processing capacity to its natural gas system in 2007, bringing the aggregate to nearly 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd). This includes volumes from 21 active processing plants with combined capacity of about 1.2 Bcfd, and three hydrocarbon dewpoint control facilities added last year with about 0.6 Bcfd of capacity.
The 1.8 Bcfd figure represents more than a quadrupling of the Partnership's total processing capacity since 2001, when the Partnership first entered the natural gas gathering and processing segment.
Other significant projects that contributed to the Partnership's growing processing capacity include:
* Construction of the Hidetown processing facility in Wheeler County in the Texas Panhandle, which was completed and operating at the end of April 2007, adding approximately 120 MMcfd; and * Construction of the Henderson processing facility in Rusk County on the East Texas system, which was completed and operating toward the end of 2006 and added 120 MMcfd of processing capacity.
The Partnership has also been enhancing its natural gas treating system, including:
* Improvement of the sulfur removal capability of the Aker treating facility in Freestone County in East Texas, which was completed in 2007, and expansion of capacity that is underway in 2008; and * Completion of the 200 MMcfd Marquez treating facility in Robertson County in East Texas, which was completed and placed into service in March 2007.
Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (www.enbridgepartners.com) owns the U.S. portion of the world's longest liquid petroleum pipeline and is active in natural gas gathering, processing and transmission. Enbridge Energy Management, L.L.C. (NYSE:EEQ) manages the business and affairs of the Partnership and its principal asset is an approximate 15 percent interest in the Partnership.
Enbridge Energy Company, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, is the general partner of and holds an approximate 15 percent interest in Enbridge Partners. Enbridge Inc. common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ENB".