The curtain has been lifted on a proposed 100-mile pipeline that would provide shippers more access to gas supplies from the Waha, Barnett shale as well as the Bossier Sands and Anadarko Basin.

The Barnett Intrastate Gas Pipeline, also known as the BIG Pipeline, is being considered by Enbridge Energy Partners LP, Houston, (NYSE: EEP) and Atmos Pipeline and Storage LLC, a subsidiary of Atmos Energy Corp., Houston, (NYSE: ATO).  The two are holding a solicitation of interest from Aug. 25 through Sept. 17.

BIG Pipeline would connect Atmos Energy’s Line X in Johnson County, Texas, to Enbridge's Double D and Clarity pipelines at Bethel in Anderson County, Texas.

This new pipeline would bridge the two companies' systems and would provide shippers more access to natural gas supplies from the producing regions, says Enbridge Energy Co. Inc. president Terrance L. McGrill. Enbridge Energy Co. is the general partner of Enbridge Energy Partners.

He adds that delivery points would include multiple market options at the Enbridge Carthage Hub in Panola County, Texas, and the Enbridge Southeast Texas Hub in Orange County.

“As more and more drilling occurs in the prolific Barnett shale of North Texas, this 100-mile natural gas transmission pipeline, with a capacity of up to 1 billion cubic feet per day, will help Enbridge and Atmos Energy avoid constraints on their respective systems and it will increase reliable supplies of natural gas,” McGill says. “In addition, transportation for shippers would be seamless all the way across the system.” JAS