Enterprise Products Partners L.P. intends to oppose any judgment based on the verdict by a Dallas jury which ruled against the company in a lawsuit filed by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) over a proposed pipeline project that was canceled in August 2011 due to a lack of customer support.

In April 2011 both Enterprise and ETP signed a non-binding letter of intent disclaiming any partnership or joint venture absent executed definitive documents and board approvals of the two companies. Definitive agreements were never executed and board approval was never obtained for the potential pipeline project.

Enterprise said in a statement that it firmly believes, and argued during its defense, that no agreement was ever executed forming a legal joint venture or partnership between the parties. The jury found that the actions of the two companies, nevertheless, constituted a legal partnership. As a result, the jury found that ETP was wrongfully excluded from a subsequent pipeline project that was to transport crude oil from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast, and awarded ETP $319 million in actual damages. A judgment has not yet been entered in this case.

Enterprise said it does not believe that the verdict is supported by the evidence or the law and will promptly seek to reverse those findings. Furthermore, Enterprise management believes that the decision sets a dangerous precedent that jeopardizes current and future business relationships in the state of Texas.