Energy Transfer 2010 Annual Report Download - page 46

DCP Midstream, LLC. The North Texas System competes with Crosstex North Texas Gathering, LP and Devon
Gas Services, LP for gathering and processing. The East Texas pipeline competes with other natural gas
transportation pipelines that serve the Bossier Sands area in East Texas and the Barnett Shale region in North
Texas. The ET Fuel System and the Oasis pipeline compete with a number of other natural gas pipelines,
including interstate and intrastate pipelines that link the Waha Hub. The ET Fuel System competes with other
natural gas transportation pipelines serving the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and other pipelines that serve the east
central Texas and South Texas markets. Pipelines that we compete with in these areas include those owned by
Atmos Energy Corporation, Enterprise and Enbridge, Inc. Some of our competitors may have greater financial
resources and access to larger natural gas supplies than we do.
The acquisitions of the HPL System and the Transwestern pipeline increased the number of interstate pipelines
and natural gas markets to which we have access and expanded our principal areas of competition to areas such
as Southeast Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast. As a result of our expanded market presence and diversification,
we face additional competitors, such as major integrated oil companies, interstate and intrastate pipelines and
companies that gather, compress, treat, process, transport, store and market natural gas, that may have greater
financial resources and access to larger natural gas supplies than we do.
The Transwestern, Fayetteville Express and Tiger pipelines compete with other interstate and intrastate pipeline
companies in the transportation and storage of natural gas. The principal elements of competition among
pipelines are rates, terms of service, access to sources of supply and the flexibility and reliability of service.
Natural gas competes with other forms of energy available to our customers and end-users, including for
example, electricity, coal and fuel oils. The primary competitive factor is price. Changes in the availability or
price of natural gas and other forms of energy, the level of business activity, conservation, legislation and
governmental regulations, the capability to convert to alternate fuels and other factors, including weather and
natural gas storage levels, affect the levels of natural gas transportation volumes in the areas served by our
pipelines.
Our propane business competes with a number of large national and regional propane companies and several
thousand small independent propane companies. Because of the relatively low barriers to entry into the retail
propane market, there is potential for small independent propane retailers, as well as other companies that may
not currently be engaged in retail propane distribution, to compete with our retail outlets. As a result, we are
always subject to the risk of additional competition in the future. Generally, warmer-than-normal weather further
intensifies competition. Most of our propane retail branch locations compete with several other marketers or
distributors in their service areas. The principal factors influencing competition with other retail propane
marketers are:
• price,
• reliability and quality of service,
• responsiveness to customer needs,
• safety concerns,
• long-standing customer relationships,
• the inconvenience of switching tanks and suppliers, and
• the lack of growth in the industry.
The inability to continue to access tribal lands could adversely affect Transwestern’s ability to operate its
pipeline system and the inability to recover the cost of right-of-way grants on tribal lands could adversely
affect its financial results.
Transwestern’s ability to operate its pipeline system on certain lands held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of a Native American Tribe, which we refer to as tribal lands, will depend on its success in maintaining
existing rights-of-way and obtaining new rights-of-way on those tribal lands. Securing extensions of existing and
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