Energy Transfer Partners LP, Dallas, (NYSE: ETP) has completed the 160-mile Texas Independence Pipeline, which increases the partnership’s takeaway capacity in Texas by an incremental 1.1 billion cubic feet per day.

Energy Transfer operates the largest intrastate pipeline system in Texas, with nearly 8,000 miles of pipeline in the state. The company received clearance to build the $485-million pipeline in April 2008.

The 42-inch Texas Independence gas pipeline serves the Bossier and Barnett shale gas resource plays in east and north-central Texas. Originating just west of Maypearl, Texas and ending near Henderson, Texas, the pipeline connects the partnership’s existing central and North Texas infrastructure to its east Texas pipeline network. With the addition of compression, the project may be expanded to transport natural gas volumes in excess of 1.75 billion cubic feet per day.

Energy Transfer Partners senior vice president Roy Patton says, “The completion of the Texas Independence Pipeline is another exciting milestone for us as it is our third 42-inch natural gas pipeline in Texas that allows natural gas from Waha, the Barnett Shale and Bossier Sands to reach markets throughout east and southeast Texas. While we continue to build necessary infrastructure in the Fort Worth Basin, our efforts remain equally focused on expanding our system into other emerging natural gas fields, including the Fayetteville and Haynesville, where previously announced pipeline projects proceed as scheduled.”

Energy Transfer has also completed the Rulison expansion project in Colorado, which includes the 10-mile, 24-inch Rulison pipeline and the Holmes Mesa compressor station in Garfield County, Colorado. These projects are designed to increase the capacity of the partnership’s South Parachute-Rifle pipeline system. The project will also create a new outlet for producers to access the Meeker processing plant at the White River Hub.

The Rulison pipeline will initially add more than 70 million cubic feet per day of capacity, with the ability to expand to more than 200 million cubic feet per day in the future. The Holmes Mesa compressor station has more than 9,000 horsepower of compression.

Energy Transfer Partners provides midstream and intrastate transportation and storage services in Texas and the Rockies.