Midstream natural gas company Copano Energy LLC will extend its wholly-owned 96-mile, 24-inch DK Pipeline in the Eagle Ford Shale play by adding approximately 65 miles of 24-inch pipeline southwest into McMullen County, Texas.  The DK Pipeline extension is expected to begin service in the first half of 2013 and is projected to cost approximately $120 million. The pipeline extension will follow the same route as Copano's recently announced condensate pipeline, Double Eagle Pipeline LLC, a joint venture with Magellan Midstream Partners LP, in the rich gas window of the Eagle Ford Shale. 

The extension of the DK Pipeline is supported by a new long-term agreement with Petrohawk Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of BHP Billiton and a leading operator in the Eagle Ford Shale play.  Under the terms of the fee-based agreement, Copano will provide Petrohawk with gathering, processing and NGL handling services for a significant commitment of natural gas volumes from leases in McMullen County, Texas.

"The southwest extension of our DK Pipeline coupled with the Double Eagle condensate pipeline will allow Copano to offer a full slate of gas, NGL and condensate solutions to our customers in the trend," said R. Bruce Northcutt, president and CEO of Copano Energy.

Copano Energy has operations in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Louisiana. Its assets include approximately 6,700 miles of active natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 370 miles of NGL pipelines and 10 natural gas processing plants, with more than 1 billion cubic feet per day of combined processing capacity and 44,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity.