Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) announced today plans to expand
processing facilities at its Houston Central complex, located in
Colorado County, Texas, in response to producer demand in the rapidly
developing Eagle Ford Shale play. The expansion project will consist of
a new 400,000 Mcf per day cryogenic processing plant and will bring
Copano's total processing capacity at its Houston Central complex to 1.1
Bcf per day. Anticipated capital spending for the expansion is estimated
to be approximately $145 million, with an expected in-service date in
early 2013. Start-up of the new plant is anticipated to coincide with
commencement of Copano's firm capacity at Formosa Hydrocarbons Company's
Point Comfort petrochemical facility under a previously announced NGL
fractionation and sales agreement.
"We are pleased to be moving forward with the next phase in our Eagle
Ford Shale development strategy and expect that our existing
infrastructure at Houston Central will enable us to expedite bringing
this additional capacity to market," said R. Bruce Northcutt, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Copano Energy. "The new state-of-the-art
cryogenic processing plant will improve efficiencies at Houston Central,
allowing us and our producers to benefit from much higher NGL recoveries
for many years to come."
Houston-based Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) is a midstream
natural gas company with operations in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and
Louisiana. Its assets include approximately 6,400 miles of active
natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 260 miles of NGL
pipelines and nine 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. SOURCE Copano Energy, L.L.C.
