Copano Energy, L.L.C. (Nasdaq: CPNO) announced today the signing of a
long-term, fee-based agreement to provide GeoSouthern Energy
Corporation, one of the first producers to have success in the NGL-rich
region of the northern Eagle Ford Shale, with gathering, compression,
processing and fractionation services for its Eagle Ford Shale
production from a substantial acreage position in DeWitt County, Texas.
Copano will gather gas into its recently completed 36-mile, 24-inch DK
Pipeline in DeWitt and Karnes Counties and will provide fully integrated
services for both natural gas and natural gas liquids at its Houston
Central Complex located in Colorado County, Texas.
Copano also announced plans to expand its Houston Central Complex
fractionation facilities and its downstream NGL product handling
facilities to accommodate producer demand in the rapidly developing
Eagle Ford Shale. The fractionation expansion will double Copano's
current capacity to 44,000 barrels per day. Anticipated capital spending
for the fractionation and related product pipelines expansions is
approximately $60 million, with an expected in-service date in September
2011.
"We are pleased to have been selected as GeoSouthern's midstream
provider," said R. Bruce Northcutt, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Copano Energy. "We believe that the capabilities and location
of our Houston Central Complex, combined with our newly completed DK
Pipeline, enable us to offer enhanced access to natural gas and NGL
market alternatives for GeoSouthern and other Eagle Ford Shale
producers."
Houston-based Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) is a midstream
natural gas company with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and
Louisiana. Its assets include approximately 6,400 miles of active
natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 250 miles of NGL
pipelines and eight natural gas processing plants, with over one Bcf per
day of combined processing capacity and 22,000 barrels per day of
fractionation capacity. For more information, please visit www.copanoenergy.com.
This press release includes "forward-looking statements," as defined by
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements that address
activities or events that Copano believes will or may occur in the
future are forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are
not limited to, statements about future producer activity and Copano's
total distributable cash flow and distribution coverage. These
statements are based on management's experience and perception of
historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and
other factors management believes are reasonable. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements include the following risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond Copano's control: price
volatility and market demand for natural gas and natural gas liquids;
Copano's ability to continue to obtain new sources of natural gas supply
and retain its key customers; the impact on volumes, and resulting cash
flow, of technological, economic and other uncertainties inherent in
estimating future production, producers' ability to drill and
successfully complete and attach new natural gas supplies, the
availability of downstream transportation systems and other facilities
for natural gas and NGLs, and higher construction costs or project
delays due to inflation, limited availability of required resources or
the effects of environmental, legal or other uncertainties; general
economic conditions; the effects of government regulations and policies;
and other financial, operational and legal risks and uncertainties
detailed from time to time in Copano's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
