The Crosstex Energy companies, Crosstex Energy LP and Crosstex Energy Inc., announced that the partnership is proceeding with Phase II of the Partnership’s Cajun-Sibon natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline extension and fractionator expansion in Louisiana. In addition, construction of Phase I of the project is underway and is expected to commence operations by mid-2013. The total capital investment for both phases of the project is currently estimated at $680-$700 million. The Partnership expects Phase II to have an annual run-rate adjusted EBITDA contribution of $75-$85 million.

Phase II, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2014, will include the following: the expansion of the partnership’s Cajun-Sibon pipeline capacity by an additional 50,000 barrels (bbl.) per day of raw-make NGL for a total project capacity of 120,000 bbl. per day; the installation of a 100,000-bbl.-per-day fractionator adjacent to the partnership’s Plaquemine natural gas processing plant; the modification of the Riverside fractionator facility; the construction of a 32 mile extension of LIG’s Bayou Jack Lateral that will provide gas services to customers in the Mississippi River corridor; the installation of four pump stations totaling 13,400 horsepower and the construction of 57 miles of NGL pipelines that will originate at the Partnership’s Eunice fractionator and connect to the new Plaquemine fractionator.

The Partnership announced that it has entered into 10-year sales agreements with Dow Hydrocarbons and Resources LLC. Under the sales agreements, the Partnership will deliver up to 40,000 bbl. per day of ethane and 25,000 bbl. per day of propane produced at the partnership’s new Plaquemine fractionator into Dow’s Louisiana pipeline system. The partnership will also deliver 70,000 million British thermal units of natural gas per day to Dow’s Plaquemine facility.

“We are very pleased that the market continues to be strongly supportive of our Cajun-Sibon project. With an estimated combined adjusted EBITDA of $115 to $130 million, we believe Phases I and II will significantly increase our PNGL assets’ contribution to the bottom line, creating significant value for our investors,” Barry E. Davis, Crosstex president and chief executive, said in a release.

“This project is a tremendous step forward as we continue to enhance our scale and diversity and grow our integrated NGL system and optimize our assets,” Davis added. “Demand for fractionation and NGL handling remains strong as producers aggressively develop liquids-rich natural gas shale plays. We offer a value-added alternative to the Mont Belvieu fractionation and liquids markets. We also will improve the reliability and diversity of NGL supply to the Louisiana petrochemical and refining markets.”

Phase I includes a 130-mile, 12-inch-diameter pipeline that will extend the Partnership’s existing 440-mile Cajun-Sibon NGL pipeline system, connecting its Eunice NGL fractionation facility in south central Louisiana to Mont Belvieu supply pipelines in East Texas. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 70,000 bbl. per day of raw-make NGL. As part of Phase I, the Partnership’s Eunice fractionator is being expanded from 15,000 bbl. to 55,000 bbl. of NGL per day, increasing the Partnership’s interconnected fractionation capacity in Louisiana to approximately 97,000 bbl. per day of NGL. The Eunice expansion began in the third quarter of 2012. It is expected that Phase I facilities – both the pipeline and the expanded fractionation plant – will be in operation by mid-2013.

The Phase I NGL pipeline extension will originate from interconnects with major Mont Belvieu supply pipelines, providing connections for NGL from the Permian Basin, Midcontinent, Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Rocky Mountain areas to the Partnership’s NGL fractionation facilities in South Louisiana. The Partnership’s facilities in South Louisiana provide access to markets for all components of the NGL barrel.