NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 22, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that midstream energy companies Enterprise Products Partners L.P.'s (EPP) and TEPPCO Partners L.P.'s (both BBB-/Stable/--) announcement that they have elected to disassociate from the $1.8 billion Texas Offshore Port System (TOPS) project in connection with a disagreement with one of its partners, Oiltanking Holding Americas Inc. (unrated), will not affect ratings. We view the announcement as generally positive for both partnerships' credit quality, particularly for TEPPCO given that the potential debt associated with the project could have materially affected its balance sheet and credit metrics. Although the capital commitment for both partnerships have been minimal so far, the partnerships would have been exposed to risks of
