Subject to customer commitments and required approvals, the Double E pipeline is expected to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2012.   
OPIS notes that there are several pipeline and rail projects in the works for delivering the landlocked crude supplies from Cushing and the Bakken and Eagleford shales to the Gulf Coast refining hub. Most projects would be completed in 2012-2013.   The Double E pipeline would be designed and constructed as part of a 50/50 joint venture between the two partnerships.    
The pipeline would provide up to 450,000 b/d of takeaway capacity for crude oil currently stranded at the Cushing storage hub because of a lack of southbound pipeline infrastructure.   
The project would offer shippers greater access to the Gulf Coast refining complex, while providing refiners with a reliable, domestic source of crude oil as an alternative to higher priced imported crude oil that currently represents their largest source of supply.   With Midcontinent crude oil production rapidly increasing, supplies from Canada on the rise and the development of shale plays such as the Bone Springs/Avalon, Bakken and Barnett continuing at a strong pace, the new pipeline is expected to remain a key outlet for crude oil bound for the Gulf Coast market.   The pipeline would utilize about 230 miles of existing natural gas pipeline owned by Energy Transfer that would be converted to crude oil service, and require 354 miles of new construction that would follow existing pipeline corridors. With about 40% of the pipeline already in the ground, the planned project offers an expedient and cost-effective solution for the industry.   
Additionally, about 500,000 bbl of crude oil storage capacity being constructed at Enterprise’s ECHO terminal in southeast Harris County would be jointly owned by the joint-venture partners.  
The binding open commitment period begins at 9 a.m. CDT on May 25 and ends at 5 p.m. CDT on July 8.