The 282 km Tiger Pipeline and the 298 km Fayetteville Express Pipeline are both anticipated to be in service on 1 December 2010. Combined, the project costs for these two pipelines are expected to total $US2.02 billion, $US200 million under most recent estimates and $US480 million under original estimates.

ETC Tiger Pipeline

The 42 inch diameter Tiger Pipeline, an interstate natural gas pipeline to serve the Haynesville Shale and Bossier Sands producing regions in Louisiana and East Texas, will have an initial capacity of 2 Bcf/d. Through a planned expansion project subject to FERC approval, the ultimate capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 2.4 Bcf/d.

Tiger Pipeline’s expected in-service date of 1 December 2010 is seven months ahead of the original projection of mid-2011. In addition, pre-expansion project costs are expected to be approximately $US1.01 billion, down $US190 million from the original projection of $US1.2 billion.

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Fayetteville Express Pipeline

The 42 inch Fayetteville Express Pipeline (FEP), a 50/50 joint venture with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners will serve the Fayetteville Shale producing region in Arkansas and have the capacity to transport up to 2 Bcf/d of natural gas.

FEP’s original in-service date was as late as the first quarter of 2011. Project costs for FEP are expected to total approximately $US1.01 billion, down $US115 million from the original projection of $US1.3 billion.

“We are very proud to have two projects of this magnitude in service ahead of schedule and well below the original budget – FEP 22 per cent and Tiger 16 per cent – particularly in light of significant cost overruns and delays experienced by other companies in constructing interstate pipelines in recent years,” said Energy Transfer’s Interstate Pipeline Division Senior Vice President Lee Hanse.