Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer Partners are to form a 50 / 50 joint venture to design and construct a crude oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Houston, Texas, US.

The project will provide access to the US Gulf Coast refining complex and add about 500,000 barrels of storage capacity at new facilities to be constructed and owned by the joint venture at Enterprise’s new Houston crude oil terminal.

The pipeline will provide an outlet for more than 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil supplies and give refiners on the Gulf Coast access to growing supplies of domestic crude oil production and an alternative to higher priced crude oil imports.

The 584 mile project will originate at Enterprise’s 3.1 million barrel crude oil storage facility in Cushing with the use of new and existing pipelines.

The new pipeline is expected to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2012.