The Tiger expansion is anticipated to add 400 million cubic feet per day of capacity to the ETC Tiger Pipeline system, bringing total capacity to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day, all of which is sold out under long-term contracts ranging from 10 to 15 years.

Luke Fletcher, vice president of Energy Transfer Partners Interstate Pipeline Division, said: “This expansion of the Tiger System will provide vital take away capacity from the Haynesville Shale and Middle Bossier shale production areas in Louisiana and East Texas, to markets in the eastern half of the US.”

The construction commenced earlier this month on the original 42-inch Tiger Pipeline, an approximately 175-mile interstate natural gas pipeline originating in Panola County, Texas and terminating in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

The Tiger Pipeline will interconnect to seven interstate pipelines and one intrastate pipeline for the final delivery to markets across the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

The Tiger Pipeline, which will have an initial capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day, is likely to be in service in the first quarter of 2011. The Tiger Expansion is expected to be in service in the last half of 2011.