All three companies under the Energy Transfer Equity umbrella will own more than 44, 000 miles of natural gas pipelines with transportation capacity of approximately 30.7 billion cubic feet per day.

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Deserving of serious consideration are master limited partnerships (MLPs), which are publicly traded partnerships that own pipelines and storage and transportation facilities for oil, gas and refined products.

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This year, Shell Pakistan invested in a network of storage facilities, road and rail transportation and pipelines to handle the estimated increase in Pakistan's petroleum product demand from 14 million tons today to 25 million tons by 2000.

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Production should follow quickly using nearby existing pipelines with no need to build new transportation infrastructure.

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With only a few years needed to recover capital costs on investment, the competitive landscape changes and rail transportation rates could be reduced after pipelines enter the market to keep railroads competitive and still profitable.

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Most MLPs are involved in the transportation of oil and natural gas through pipelines owned by the partnership.

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At present, 2.5 million miles of existing natural gas pipelines exist in the United States, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

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Pipelines transport is far, far safer than any other form of transportation.

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