Due to the closing of an additional capacity commitment with a large producer in the Barnett Shale for up to 250,000 MMBtu/d, and the interest from several other producers, the company has increased the capacity of its intrastate pipeline project. The expansion will increase the size of the pipeline from 36in to 42in for about 210km; however, this expansion is not expected to delay the anticipated time for completion of the project. With this increase in size, the 422-km pipeline will now have approximately 384km of 42-in, along with 34km of 30-in diameter pipe. The company's directors have approved an additional $81.5 million in capital expenditures to cover the cost of this expansion, bringing the total expected cost to approximately $535.5 million for this project. The company's Fort Worth Basin pipeline became commercially operational on 26 May this year, at nearly full capacity. The looping of the first 38km of the system with a parallel 24-in pipeline, and the addition of up to 12,000HP of incremental compression, will provide additional upstream capacities needed to accommodate the increased volumes in the Fort Worth Basin production area. The estimated cost to complete this project is approximately $32.1 million. "The Barnett Shale continues to exceed everyone's expectations," said Roy Patton, senior vice president of Energy Transfer Fuel (an ETP subsidiary). "We have been successful in the area because we have been so proactive in building both the upstream and downstream infrastructure to meet our customers' needs. As production levels continue to grow, these two expansion projects will help attract additional customers to our pipeline."