Partnership Operations, Organization and Basis of Presentation	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011
Partnership Operations, Organization and Basis of Presentation [Abstract]
Partnership Operations, Organization and Basis of Presentation	Note 1. Partnership Operations, Organization and Basis of Presentation We are a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership, the common units of which are listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol EPD. We were formed in April 1998 to own and operate certain natural gas liquids (“NGLs”) related businesses of EPCO. We are a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and certain petrochemicals. Our midstream energy asset network links producers of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil from some of the largest supply basins in the United States, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with domestic consumers and international markets. Our assets include approximately 50,200 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 190 million barrels (“MMBbls”) of storage capacity for NGLs, refined products and crude oil; and 27 billion cubic feet (“Bcf”) of natural gas storage capacity. Our midstream energy operations include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage, and import and export terminaling; crude oil and refined products transportation, storage, and terminaling; offshore production platforms; petrochemical transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. We have six reportable business segments: (i) NGL Pipelines & Services; (ii) Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services; (iii) Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services; (iv) Offshore Pipelines & Services; (v) Petrochemical & Refined Products Services; and (vi) Other Investments. Our business segments reflect the manner in which these businesses are managed and reviewed by the CEO of our general partner. See Note 11 for additional information regarding our business segments. We are 100% owned by our limited partners from an economic perspective. We are managed and controlled by Enterprise GP, which has a non-economic general partner interest in us. We, Enterprise GP, EPCO and Dan Duncan LLC are affiliates and under the collective common control of the DD LLC and EPCO Trustees. We have no employees. All of our operating functions and general and administrative support services are provided by employees of EPCO pursuant to an administrative services agreement (the “ASA”) or by other service providers. See Note 12 for information regarding the ASA and other related party matters. Agreement and Plan of Merger with Duncan Energy Partners On April 28, 2011, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Duncan Merger Agreement”), by and among Enterprise, Enterprise GP, EPD MergerCo LLC (“Duncan MergerCo,” a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise), Duncan Energy Partners and DEP GP. At the effective time of the merger, Duncan MergerCo will merge with and into Duncan Energy Partners, pursuant to the Duncan Merger Agreement, with Duncan Energy Partners surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise (the “Duncan Merger”), and all of the outstanding Duncan Energy Partners common units at the effective time of the merger will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive common units representing limited partner interests in Enterprise based on an exchange rate of 1.01 Enterprise common units for each Duncan Energy Partners common unit. On September 7, 2011, Duncan Energy Partners will host a special meeting of its unitholders to consider and vote upon approval of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger. The Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger must be approved by the affirmative vote or consent of holders of (i) a majority of the outstanding common units of Duncan Energy Partners and (ii) a majority of the Duncan Energy Partners common units owned by the Duncan Unaffiliated Unitholders (as defined in the Duncan Merger Agreement) that actually vote for or against such approval. In connection with the Duncan Merger Agreement, we, Duncan Energy Partners and Enterprise GTM Holdings L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise (“Enterprise GTM”), entered into a Voting Agreement, dated as of April 28, 2011 (the “Voting Agreement”), pursuant to which Enterprise GTM and Enterprise agreed to vote any of the Duncan Energy Partners common units owned by them or their subsidiaries in favor of the adoption of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger at any meeting of the Duncan Energy Partners unitholders, including the 33,783,587 Duncan Energy Partners common units currently directly owned by Enterprise GTM (representing approximately 58.5% of the outstanding common units of Duncan Energy Partners). The Voting Agreement will terminate upon the termination of the Duncan Merger Agreement. The Duncan Merger Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants by each of the parties. Completion of the Duncan Merger is conditioned upon, among other things: (i) requisite Duncan Energy Partners unitholder approval of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger; (ii) applicable regulatory approvals; (iii) the absence of certain legal injunctions or impediments prohibiting the transactions; (iv) the effectiveness of a registration statement on Form S-4 with respect to the issuance by Enterprise of the Enterprise common units in connection with the Duncan Merger (the Form S-4 was declared effective by the SEC on August 1, 2011); (v) the receipt of certain tax opinions; and (vi) approval for the listing of the Enterprise common units issued in connection with the Duncan Merger on the NYSE. Basis of Presentation Holdings Merger. On November 22, 2010, the Holdings Merger Agreement was approved by the unitholders of Holdings and the merger of Holdings with Holdings MergerCo and related transactions were completed, with Holdings MergerCo surviving such merger. At the effective time of the Holdings Merger, Enterprise GP succeeded as Enterprise's general partner, and each issued and outstanding unit representing limited partner interests in Holdings was cancelled and converted into the right to receive Enterprise common units based on an exchange ratio of 1.5 Enterprise common units for each Holdings unit. Enterprise issued an aggregate of 208,813,454 of its common units (net of 23 fractional common units cashed out) as consideration in the Holdings Merger and, immediately after the merger, cancelled 21,563,177 of its common units previously owned by Holdings. In connection with the Holdings Merger, Enterprise's partnership agreement was amended and restated to provide for the cancellation of its general partner's 2% economic general partner interest and incentive distribution rights in Enterprise. In addition, a privately held affiliate of EPCO agreed to temporarily waive the regular quarterly cash distributions it would otherwise receive from Enterprise with respect to a certain number of Enterprise's common units (the “Designated Units”) over a five-year period after the merger closing date. The number of Designated Units to which the temporary distribution waiver applies is as follows for distributions to be paid during the following periods, if any: 30,610,000 during 2011; 26,130,000 during 2012; 23,700,000 during 2013; 22,560,000 during 2014; and 17,690,000 during 2015. Prior to the Holdings Merger, Enterprise was a consolidated subsidiary of Holdings, which was Enterprise's parent. Upon completion of the Holdings Merger, Holdings merged with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise. The Holdings Merger resulted in Holdings being considered the surviving consolidated entity for accounting purposes, while Enterprise is the surviving consolidated entity for legal and reporting purposes. For accounting purposes, Holdings is deemed the acquirer of the noncontrolling interests in Enterprise that were previously recognized in Holdings' consolidated financial statements (i.e., the acquisition of Enterprise's limited partner interests that were owned by parties other than Holdings). As a result of the Holdings Merger, Enterprise's consolidated financial and operating results prior to November 22, 2010 have been presented as if it were Holdings from an accounting perspective (i.e., the financial statements of Holdings become the historical financial statements of Enterprise). The primary differences between Holdings' and Enterprise's consolidated results of operations were: (i) general and administrative costs incurred by Holdings and EPGP (our former general partner); (ii) equity in income of Holdings' noncontrolling ownership interests in Energy Transfer Equity; and (iii) interest expense associated with Holdings' debt. In addition, for periods prior to November 22, 2010, the net assets, income, cash distributions and contributions and other amounts attributable to Enterprise's limited partner interests that were owned by third parties and related parties other than Holdings are presented as a component of noncontrolling interest. See Note 10 for additional information regarding noncontrolling interests. The historical limited partner units outstanding and earnings per unit amounts presented in our financial statements have been retroactively presented in connection with the 1.5 to one unit-for-unit exchange that occurred under the Holdings Merger. See Note 13 for additional information regarding earnings per unit. Consolidation of Duncan Energy Partners. For financial reporting purposes, we consolidate the financial statements of Duncan Energy Partners with those of our own and reflect its operations in our business segments. We control Duncan Energy Partners through our ownership of its general partner. Public ownership of Duncan Energy Partners' net assets and earnings are presented as a component of noncontrolling interest in our consolidated financial statements. The borrowings of Duncan Energy Partners are presented as part of our consolidated debt. However, neither Enterprise Products Partners nor EPO have any obligation for the payment of interest or repayment of borrowings incurred by Duncan Energy Partners. Since we consolidate Duncan Energy Partners for financial reporting purposes, the proposed Duncan Merger would not change the basis of presentation of our historical financial statements.

Note 1. Partnership Operations, Organization and Basis of Presentation

We are a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership, the common units of which are listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol EPD. We were formed in April 1998 to own and operate certain natural gas liquids (“NGLs”) related businesses of EPCO. We are a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and certain petrochemicals. Our midstream energy asset network links producers of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil from some of the largest supply basins in the United States, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with domestic consumers and international markets. Our assets include approximately 50,200 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 190 million barrels (“MMBbls”) of storage capacity for NGLs, refined products and crude oil; and 27 billion cubic feet (“Bcf”) of natural gas storage capacity.

Our midstream energy operations include: natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage, and import and export terminaling; crude oil and refined products transportation, storage, and terminaling; offshore production platforms; petrochemical transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates primarily on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. We have six reportable business segments: (i) NGL Pipelines & Services; (ii) Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services; (iii) Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services; (iv) Offshore Pipelines & Services; (v) Petrochemical & Refined Products Services; and (vi) Other Investments. Our business segments reflect the manner in which these businesses are managed and reviewed by the CEO of our general partner. See Note 11 for additional information regarding our business segments.

We are 100% owned by our limited partners from an economic perspective. We are managed and controlled by Enterprise GP, which has a non-economic general partner interest in us. We, Enterprise GP, EPCO and Dan Duncan LLC are affiliates and under the collective common control of the DD LLC and EPCO Trustees. We have no employees. All of our operating functions and general and administrative support services are provided by employees of EPCO pursuant to an administrative services agreement (the “ASA”) or by other service providers. See Note 12 for information regarding the ASA and other related party matters.

Agreement and Plan of Merger with Duncan Energy Partners

On April 28, 2011, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Duncan Merger Agreement”), by and among Enterprise, Enterprise GP, EPD MergerCo LLC (“Duncan MergerCo,” a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise), Duncan Energy Partners and DEP GP. At the effective time of the merger, Duncan MergerCo will merge with and into Duncan Energy Partners, pursuant to the Duncan Merger Agreement, with Duncan Energy Partners surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise (the “Duncan Merger”), and all of the outstanding Duncan Energy Partners common units at the effective time of the merger will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive common units representing limited partner interests in Enterprise based on an exchange rate of 1.01 Enterprise common units for each Duncan Energy Partners common unit.

On September 7, 2011, Duncan Energy Partners will host a special meeting of its unitholders to consider and vote upon approval of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger. The Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger must be approved by the affirmative vote or consent of holders of (i) a majority of the outstanding common units of Duncan Energy Partners and (ii) a majority of the Duncan Energy Partners common units owned by the Duncan Unaffiliated Unitholders (as defined in the Duncan Merger Agreement) that actually vote for or against such approval. In connection with the Duncan Merger Agreement, we, Duncan Energy Partners and Enterprise GTM Holdings L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise (“Enterprise GTM”), entered into a Voting Agreement, dated as of April 28, 2011 (the “Voting Agreement”), pursuant to which Enterprise GTM and Enterprise agreed to vote any of the Duncan Energy Partners common units owned by them or their subsidiaries in favor of the adoption of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger at any meeting of the Duncan Energy Partners unitholders, including the 33,783,587 Duncan Energy Partners common units currently directly owned by Enterprise GTM (representing approximately 58.5% of the outstanding common units of Duncan Energy Partners). The Voting Agreement will terminate upon the termination of the Duncan Merger Agreement.

The Duncan Merger Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants by each of the parties. Completion of the Duncan Merger is conditioned upon, among other things: (i) requisite Duncan Energy Partners unitholder approval of the Duncan Merger Agreement and the Duncan Merger; (ii) applicable regulatory approvals; (iii) the absence of certain legal injunctions or impediments prohibiting the transactions; (iv) the effectiveness of a registration statement on Form S-4 with respect to the issuance by Enterprise of the Enterprise common units in connection with the Duncan Merger (the Form S-4 was declared effective by the SEC on August 1, 2011); (v) the receipt of certain tax opinions; and (vi) approval for the listing of the Enterprise common units issued in connection with the Duncan Merger on the NYSE.

Basis of Presentation

Holdings Merger. On November 22, 2010, the Holdings Merger Agreement was approved by the unitholders of Holdings and the merger of Holdings with Holdings MergerCo and related transactions were completed, with Holdings MergerCo surviving such merger. At the effective time of the Holdings Merger, Enterprise GP succeeded as Enterprise's general partner, and each issued and outstanding unit representing limited partner interests in Holdings was cancelled and converted into the right to receive Enterprise common units based on an exchange ratio of 1.5 Enterprise common units for each Holdings unit. Enterprise issued an aggregate of 208,813,454 of its common units (net of 23 fractional common units cashed out) as consideration in the Holdings Merger and, immediately after the merger, cancelled 21,563,177 of its common units previously owned by Holdings.

In connection with the Holdings Merger, Enterprise's partnership agreement was amended and restated to provide for the cancellation of its general partner's 2% economic general partner interest and incentive distribution rights in Enterprise. In addition, a privately held affiliate of EPCO agreed to temporarily waive the regular quarterly cash distributions it would otherwise receive from Enterprise with respect to a certain number of Enterprise's common units (the “Designated Units”) over a five-year period after the merger closing date. The number of Designated Units to which the temporary distribution waiver applies is as follows for distributions to be paid during the following periods, if any: 30,610,000 during 2011; 26,130,000 during 2012; 23,700,000 during 2013; 22,560,000 during 2014; and 17,690,000 during 2015.

Prior to the Holdings Merger, Enterprise was a consolidated subsidiary of Holdings, which was Enterprise's parent. Upon completion of the Holdings Merger, Holdings merged with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise. The Holdings Merger resulted in Holdings being considered the surviving consolidated entity for accounting purposes, while Enterprise is the surviving consolidated entity for legal and reporting purposes. For accounting purposes, Holdings is deemed the acquirer of the noncontrolling interests in Enterprise that were previously recognized in Holdings' consolidated financial statements (i.e., the acquisition of Enterprise's limited partner interests that were owned by parties other than Holdings).

As a result of the Holdings Merger, Enterprise's consolidated financial and operating results prior to November 22, 2010 have been presented as if it were Holdings from an accounting perspective (i.e., the financial statements of Holdings become the historical financial statements of Enterprise). The primary differences between Holdings' and Enterprise's consolidated results of operations were: (i) general and administrative costs incurred by Holdings and EPGP (our former general partner); (ii) equity in income of Holdings' noncontrolling ownership interests in Energy Transfer Equity; and (iii) interest expense associated with Holdings' debt. In addition, for periods prior to November 22, 2010, the net assets, income, cash distributions and contributions and other amounts attributable to Enterprise's limited partner interests that were owned by third parties and related parties other than Holdings are presented as a component of noncontrolling interest. See Note 10 for additional information regarding noncontrolling interests.

The historical limited partner units outstanding and earnings per unit amounts presented in our financial statements have been retroactively presented in connection with the 1.5 to one unit-for-unit exchange that occurred under the Holdings Merger. See Note 13 for additional information regarding earnings per unit.

Consolidation of Duncan Energy Partners. For financial reporting purposes, we consolidate the financial statements of Duncan Energy Partners with those of our own and reflect its operations in our business segments. We control Duncan Energy Partners through our ownership of its general partner. Public ownership of Duncan Energy Partners' net assets and earnings are presented as a component of noncontrolling interest in our consolidated financial statements. The borrowings of Duncan Energy Partners are presented as part of our consolidated debt. However, neither Enterprise Products Partners nor EPO have any obligation for the payment of interest or repayment of borrowings incurred by Duncan Energy Partners. Since we consolidate Duncan Energy Partners for financial reporting purposes, the proposed Duncan Merger would not change the basis of presentation of our historical financial statements.