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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 19, 2013

Registration Statement No. 333-          

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Form S-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Crosstex Energy, L.P.
Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation
Subsidiary Guarantors Listed on Schedule A Hereto
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

2501 Cedar Springs
Dallas, Texas 75201
(214) 953-9500
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrants' principal executive offices)

Joe A. Davis
Crosstex Energy, L.P.
2501 Cedar Springs
Dallas, Texas 75201
(214) 953-9500
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copy to:
Douglass M. Rayburn
Baker Botts L.L.P.
2001 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75201-2980
Telephone: (214) 953-6500
Facsimile: (214) 953-6503

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after this registration statement becomes effective.

           If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box:    o

           If any of the securities being registered on this Form are being offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box:    ý

           If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    o

           If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    o

           If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box.    ý

           If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box.    o

           Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

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SCHEDULE A

SUBSIDIARY GUARANTORS

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PROSPECTUS

Crosstex Energy, L.P.
Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation

Debt Securities
Common Units
Partnership Securities

        The following securities may be offered under this prospectus:

•

Debt securities of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation;



•

Common units representing limited partner interests in Crosstex Energy, L.P.; and



•

Partnership securities of Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation may act as co-issuer of the debt securities, and certain direct or indirect subsidiaries of Crosstex Energy, L.P. may guarantee the debt securities.

        We may offer and sell these securities through one or more underwriters, dealers or agents, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis.

        This prospectus describes only the general terms of these securities and the general manner in which we will offer the securities. The specific terms of any securities we offer will be included in a supplement to this prospectus. The prospectus supplement will describe the specific manner in which we will offer the securities and also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus.

        Our common units are traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "XTEX."

        Investing in our securities involves risk. You should carefully consider the risk factors described under "Risk Factors" beginning on page 2 of this prospectus before you make any investment in our securities.

        Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined whether this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is April 19, 2013

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        You should rely only on the information we have provided or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We have not authorized any person to provide you with additional or different information. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the cover page of this prospectus or that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate as of any date other than the date of the documents incorporated by reference. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

        This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") using a "shelf" registration process. This prospectus provides you with a general description of us and the securities offered under this prospectus, which we may sell in one or more offerings.

        Each time we sell securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering and the securities being offered. The prospectus supplement also may add to, update or change information in this prospectus. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in the prospectus supplement. You should read carefully this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the additional information described below under the heading "Where You Can Find More Information."

        As used in this prospectus, "we," "us" and "our" and similar terms mean Crosstex Energy, L.P. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

CROSSTEX ENERGY, L.P.

        We are an independent midstream energy company engaged in the gathering, processing, transmission and marketing to producers of natural gas, natural gas liquids, or NGLs, and crude oil. We also provide crude oil, condensate and brine services to producers. Our midstream energy asset network includes approximately 3,500 miles of pipelines, ten natural gas processing plants, four fractionators, 3.1 million barrels of NGL cavern storage, rail terminals, barge terminals, truck terminals and a fleet of approximately 100 trucks. We manage and report our activities primarily according to geography. We have five reportable segments: (1) South Louisiana processing, crude and NGL, which includes our processing and NGL assets in south Louisiana; (2) Louisiana, which includes our pipelines and processing plants located in Louisiana; (3) North Texas, which includes our activities in the Barnett Shale and the Permian Basin; (4) Ohio River Valley, which includes our activities in the Utica and Marcellus Shales; and (5) Corporate Segment, which includes our equity investment in Howard Energy Partners in the Eagle Ford Shale and our general partnership property and expenses.

        Our general partner, Crosstex Energy GP, LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and has ultimate responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations.

        We own 100% of Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation. Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation was organized for the purpose of co-issuing our debt securities and has no material assets or liabilities other than as co-issuer of our debt securities. Its activities will be limited to co-issuing our debt securities and engaging in activities incidental thereto.

        Crosstex Energy Services, L.P., Crosstex Operating GP, LLC, Crosstex Energy Services GP, LLC, Crosstex Processing Services, LLC, Crosstex Pelican, LLC, Sabine Pass Plant Facility Joint Venture, Crosstex LIG Liquids, LLC, Crosstex Gulf Coast Marketing Ltd., Crosstex CCNG Processing Ltd., Crosstex North Texas Pipeline, L.P., Crosstex North Texas Gathering, L.P., Crosstex NGL Marketing, L.P., Crosstex NGL Pipeline, L.P., Crosstex Permian, LLC, Crosstex Permian II, LLC, Crosstex ORV Holdings, Inc., West Virginia Oil Gathering, LLC, Appalachian Oil Purchasers, LLC, Kentucky Oil Gathering, LLC, Ohio Oil Gathering II, LLC, Ohio Oil Gathering III, LLC, OOGC Disposal Company I, LLC, M & B Gas Services, LLC, Crosstex Crude Marketing, LLC and Crosstex Texas NGL Pipeline, LLC may unconditionally guarantee any series of debt securities of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation offered by this prospectus, as set forth in a related prospectus supplement. As used in this prospectus, the term "Subsidiary Guarantors" means the subsidiaries that unconditionally guarantee any such series of debt securities.

        Our executive offices are located at 2501 Cedar Springs, Dallas, Texas 75201, and our telephone number is (214) 953-9500.

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RISK FACTORS

        An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described in our filings with the SEC referred to under the heading "Where You Can Find More Information," as well as the risks included and incorporated by reference in this prospectus, including the risk factors incorporated by reference herein from our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, as updated by annual, quarterly and other reports and documents we file with the SEC after the date of this prospectus and that are incorporated by reference herein. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our common units or debt securities could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. When we offer and sell any securities pursuant to a prospectus supplement, we may include additional risk factors relevant to such securities in the prospectus supplement.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        Some of the information included in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference contain forward-looking statements that are based on information currently available to management as well as management's assumptions and beliefs. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this prospectus constitute forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements identified by the words "may," "will," "should," "plan," "predict," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate" and "expect" and similar expressions. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events, based on what we believe are reasonable assumptions; however, such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. In addition to the specific uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this prospectus, the risk factors set forth in "Risk Factors" may affect our performance and results of operations. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or review any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

USE OF PROCEEDS

        Unless we specify otherwise in any prospectus supplement, we will use the net proceeds we receive from the sale of securities covered by this prospectus for general partnership purposes, which may include, among other things:

•

paying or refinancing all or a portion of our indebtedness outstanding at the time; and



•

funding working capital, capital expenditures or acquisitions.

        The actual application of proceeds from the sale of any particular offering of securities using this prospectus will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to such offering. The precise amount and timing of the application of these proceeds will depend upon our funding requirements and the availability and cost of other funds.

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RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES

        The table below sets forth the Ratios of Earnings to Fixed Charges for us for each of the periods indicated.

        Earnings included in the calculation of this ratio consist of (i) earnings from continuing operations before non-controlling interest or tax, minus (ii) capitalized interest, and (iii) non-controlling interest in pre-tax income of subsidiaries that have not incurred fixed charges plus (iv) depreciation of capitalized interest. Fixed charges included in the calculation of this ratio consist of (both continuing and discontinued operations) (i) interest expense, plus (ii) capitalized interest.

        Earnings were insufficient to cover fixed charges for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 by $63.6 million, $76.1 million, $24.1 million, $1.4 million and $42.8 million, respectively.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE DEBT SECURITIES

        Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation may issue senior debt securities. The issuers will issue senior debt securities under an indenture among them, the Subsidiary Guarantors, if any, and a trustee that we will name in the related prospectus supplement. We refer to this indenture as the senior indenture. The issuers may also issue subordinated debt securities under an indenture to be entered into among them, the Subsidiary Guarantors, if any, and the trustee. We refer to this indenture as the subordinated indenture. We refer to the senior indenture and the subordinated indenture collectively as the indentures. The debt securities will be governed by the provisions of the related indenture and those made part of the indenture by reference to the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

        We have summarized material provisions of the indentures, the debt securities and the guarantees below. This summary is not complete. We have filed the forms of senior and subordinated indentures with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and you should read the indentures for provisions that may be important to you.

        Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this "Description of the Debt Securities" to "we," "us," "our" and the "issuers" mean Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation, and references in this prospectus to an "indenture" refer to the particular indenture under which we issue a series of debt securities.

Provisions Applicable to Each Indenture

        General.    Any series of debt securities:

•

will be general obligations of the issuers of such series;



•

will be general obligations of the Subsidiary Guarantors if they are guaranteed by the Subsidiary Guarantors; and



•

may be subordinated to the Senior Indebtedness (as defined below) of the issuers and the Subsidiary Guarantors.

        The indentures do not limit the amount of debt securities that may be issued under any indenture and do not limit the amount of other indebtedness or securities that we may issue. We may issue debt securities under the indentures from time to time in one or more series, each in an amount authorized prior to issuance.

        No indenture contains any covenants or other provisions designed to protect holders of the debt securities in the event we participate in a highly leveraged transaction or upon a change of control. The indentures also do not contain provisions that give holders the right to require us to repurchase their securities in the event of a decline in our credit ratings for any reason, including as a result of a takeover, recapitalization or similar restructuring or otherwise.

        Terms.    We will prepare a prospectus supplement and either a supplemental indenture, or authorizing resolutions of the board of directors of our general partner, accompanied by an officers' certificate, relating to any series of debt securities that we offer, which will include specific terms relating to some or all of the following:

•

whether the debt securities will be senior or subordinated debt securities;



•

the form and title of the debt securities of that series;



•

the total principal amount of the debt securities of that series;

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whether the debt securities of that series will be issued in individual certificates to each holder or in the form of temporary or permanent global securities held by a depositary on behalf of holders;



•

the date or dates on which the principal of and any premium on the debt securities of that series will be payable;



•

any interest rate which the debt securities of that series will bear, the date from which interest will accrue, interest payment dates and record dates for interest payments;



•

any right to extend or defer the interest payment periods and the duration of the extension;



•

whether and under what circumstances any additional amounts with respect to the debt securities of that series will be payable;



•

whether debt securities of that series are entitled to the benefits of any guarantee of any Subsidiary Guarantor;



•

the place or places where payments on the debt securities of that series will be payable;



•

any provisions for the optional redemption or early repayment of that series of debt securities;



•

any provisions that would require the redemption, purchase or repayment of that series of debt securities;



•

the denominations in which that series of debt securities will be issued;



•

the portion of the principal amount of that series of debt securities that will be payable if the maturity is accelerated, if other than the entire principal amount;



•

any additional means of defeasance of that series of debt securities, any additional conditions or limitations to defeasance of the debt securities or any changes to those conditions or limitations;



•

any changes or additions to the events of default or covenants described in this prospectus;



•

any restrictions or other provisions relating to the transfer or exchange of that series of debt securities;



•

any terms for the conversion or exchange of that series of debt securities for our other securities or securities of any other entity;



•

any changes to the subordination provisions for the subordinated debt securities; and



•

any other terms of the debt securities of that series.

        This description of debt securities will be deemed modified, amended or supplemented by any description of any series of debt securities set forth in a prospectus supplement related to that series.

        We may sell the debt securities at a discount, which may be substantial, below their stated principal amount. These debt securities may bear no interest or interest at a rate that at the time of issuance is below market rates. If we sell these debt securities, we will describe in the prospectus supplement any material United States federal income tax consequences and other special considerations.

        The Subsidiary Guarantees.    The Subsidiary Guarantors may fully, unconditionally, jointly and severally guarantee on an unsecured basis all series of debt securities of the issuers. In the event of any such guarantee, each Subsidiary Guarantor will execute a notation of guarantee as further evidence of their guarantee. The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of any guarantee by the Subsidiary Guarantors.

        If a series of senior debt securities is so guaranteed, the Subsidiary Guarantors' guarantee of the senior debt securities will be the Subsidiary Guarantors' unsecured and unsubordinated general

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obligation and will rank on a parity with all of the Subsidiary Guarantors' other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. If a series of subordinated debt securities is so guaranteed, the Subsidiary Guarantors' guarantee of the subordinated debt securities will be the Subsidiary Guarantors' unsecured general obligation and will be subordinated to all of the Subsidiary Guarantors' other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness.

        The obligations of each Subsidiary Guarantor under its guarantee of the debt securities will be limited to the maximum amount that will not result in the obligations of the Subsidiary Guarantor under the guarantee constituting a fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer under federal or state law, after giving effect to:

•

all other contingent and fixed liabilities of the Subsidiary Guarantor; and



•

any collections from or payments made by or on behalf of any other Subsidiary Guarantors in respect of the obligations of the Subsidiary Guarantor under its guarantee.

        The guarantee of any Subsidiary Guarantor may be released under certain circumstances. If we exercise our legal or covenant defeasance option with respect to debt securities of a particular series as described below in "—Defeasance," then any Subsidiary Guarantor will be released with respect to that series. Further, if no default has occurred and is continuing under the indentures, and to the extent not otherwise prohibited by the indentures, a Subsidiary Guarantor will be unconditionally released and discharged from the guarantee:

•

automatically upon any sale, exchange or transfer, whether by way of merger or otherwise, to any person that is not our affiliate, of all of our direct or indirect limited partnership or other equity interests in such Subsidiary Guarantor;



•

automatically upon the merger of such Subsidiary Guarantor into us or any other Subsidiary Guarantor or the liquidation and dissolution of such Subsidiary Guarantor; or



•

following delivery of a written notice by us to the trustee, upon the release of all guarantees by such Subsidiary Guarantor of any debt of ours for borrowed money for a purchase money obligation or for a guarantee of either, except for any series of debt securities.

        Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets.    The indentures generally permit a consolidation or merger involving the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors. They also permit the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors, as applicable, to lease, assign, transfer or dispose of all or substantially all of their assets. Each of the issuers and the Subsidiary Guarantors has agreed, however, that it will not consolidate with or merge into any entity (other than one of the issuers or a Subsidiary Guarantor, as applicable) or lease, assign, transfer or dispose of all or substantially all of its assets to any entity (other than one of the issuers or a Subsidiary Guarantor, as applicable) unless:

•

it is the continuing entity; or



•

if it is not the continuing entity, the resulting entity or transferee is organized and existing under the laws of any United States jurisdiction and assumes the performance of its covenants and obligations under the indentures; and



•

in either case, immediately after giving effect to the transaction, no default or event of default would occur and be continuing or would result from the transaction.

        Upon any such consolidation, merger or asset lease, assignment, transfer or other disposition involving the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors, the resulting entity or transferee will be substituted for the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors, as applicable, under the applicable indenture and debt securities. In the case of an asset transfer or other disposition other than a lease, the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors, as applicable, will be released from the applicable indenture.

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        Events of Default.    Unless we inform you otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, the following are events of default with respect to a series of debt securities:

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failure to pay interest on or other charges relating to that series of debt securities when due that continues for 30 days;



•

default in the payment of principal or premium, if any, on any debt securities of that series when due, whether at its stated maturity, upon redemption, by declaration upon required repurchase or otherwise;



•

default in the deposit of any sinking fund payment with respect to any debt securities of that series when due that continues for 30 days;



•

failure by the issuers or, if the series of debt securities is guaranteed by any Subsidiary Guarantors, by such Subsidiary Guarantor, to comply for 60 days with the other agreements contained in the indentures, any supplement to the indentures or any board resolution authorizing the issuance of that series after written notice by the trustee or by the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities issued under that indenture that are affected by that failure;



•

certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of the issuers or, if the series of debt securities is guaranteed by any Subsidiary Guarantor that is a significant subsidiary, of any such Subsidiary Guarantor;



•

if the series of debt securities is guaranteed by any Subsidiary Guarantor:



•

any of the guarantees ceases to be in full force and effect, except as otherwise provided in the indentures;



•

any of the guarantees is declared null and void in a judicial proceeding; or



•

any Subsidiary Guarantor denies or disaffirms its obligations under the indentures or its guarantee; and



•

any other event of default provided for in that series of debt securities.

        A default under one series of debt securities will not necessarily be a default under another series. The trustee may withhold notice to the holders of the debt securities of any default or event of default (except in any payment on the debt securities) if the trustee considers it in the interest of the holders of the debt securities to do so.

        If an event of default for any series of debt securities occurs and is continuing, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of the series affected by the default (or, in some cases, 25% in principal amount of all debt securities issued under the applicable indenture that are affected, voting as one class) may declare the principal of and all accrued and unpaid interest on those debt securities to be immediately due and payable. If an event of default relating to certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization occurs, the principal of and interest on all the debt securities issued under the applicable indenture will become immediately due and payable without any action on the part of the trustee or any holder. The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of the series affected by the default (or, in some cases, of all debt securities issued under the applicable indenture that are affected, voting as one class) may in some cases rescind this accelerated payment requirement.

        A holder of a debt security of any series issued under each indenture may pursue any remedy under that indenture only if:

•

the holder gives the trustee written notice of a continuing event of default for that series;

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the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series make a written request to the trustee to pursue the remedy;



•

the holders offer to the trustee indemnity satisfactory to the trustee;



•

the trustee fails to act for a period of 60 days after receipt of the request and offer of indemnity; and



•

during that 60-day period, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the debt securities of that series do not give the trustee a direction inconsistent with the request.

        This provision does not, however, affect the right of a holder of a debt security to sue for enforcement of any overdue payment.

        In most cases, holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of a series (or of all debt securities issued under the applicable indenture that are affected, voting as one class) may direct the time, method and place of:

•

conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee; and



•

exercising any trust or power conferred upon the trustee relating to or arising as a result of an event of default.

        The issuers are required to file each year with the trustee a written statement as to its compliance with the covenants contained in the applicable indenture.

        Modification and Waiver.    Each indenture may be amended or supplemented if the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of all series issued under that indenture that are affected by the amendment or supplement (acting as one class) consent to it. Without the consent of the holder of each debt security affected, however, no modification may:

•

reduce the amount of debt securities whose holders must consent to an amendment, a supplement or a waiver;



•

reduce the rate of or change the time for payment of interest on the debt security;



•

reduce the principal of, any premium on or any sinking fund payment with respect to the debt security or change its stated maturity;



•

reduce any premium payable on the redemption of the debt security or change the time at which the debt security may or must be redeemed;



•

change any obligation to pay additional amounts on the debt security;



•

make payments on the debt security payable in currency other than as originally stated in the debt security;



•

impair the holder's right to institute suit for the enforcement of any payment on or with respect to the debt security;



•

make any change in the percentage of principal amount of debt securities necessary to waive compliance with certain provisions of the indenture or to make any change in the provision related to modification;



•

modify the provisions relating to the subordination of any subordinated debt security in a manner materially adverse to the holder of that security or of Senior Indebtedness;



•

waive a continuing default or event of default regarding any payment on or with respect to the debt securities; or

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•

release any Subsidiary Guarantor, or modify the guarantee of any Subsidiary Guarantor in any manner materially adverse to the holders.

        Each indenture may be amended or supplemented or any provision of that indenture may be waived without the consent of any holders of debt securities issued under that indenture:

•

to cure any ambiguity, omission, defect or inconsistency;



•

to provide for the assumption of the issuers' obligations under the indentures by a successor upon any merger, consolidation or asset transfer permitted under the indenture;



•

to provide for uncertificated debt securities in addition to or in place of certificated debt securities or to provide for bearer debt securities;



•

to provide any security for, any guarantees of or any additional obligors on any series of debt securities or the related guarantees, if any;



•

to comply with any requirement to effect or maintain the qualification of that indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939;



•

to add covenants that would benefit the holders of any debt securities or to surrender any rights the issuers or the Subsidiary Guarantors have under the indentures;



•

to add events of default with respect to any debt securities; and



•

to make any change that does not adversely affect any outstanding debt securities of any series issued under that indenture in any material respect.

        The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series (or, in some cases, of all debt securities issued under the applicable indenture that are affected, voting as one class) may waive any existing or past default or event of default with respect to those debt securities. Those holders may not, however, waive any default or event of default in any payment on any debt security or compliance with a provision that cannot be amended or supplemented without the consent of each holder affected.

        Defeasance.    When we use the term defeasance, we mean discharge from some or all of our obligations under the indentures. If any combination of funds or government securities are deposited with the trustee under an indenture sufficient to make payments on the debt securities of a series issued under that indenture on the dates those payments are due and payable, then, at our option, either of the following will occur:

•

we will be discharged from our or their obligations with respect to the debt securities of that series and, if applicable, the related guarantees ("legal defeasance"); or



•

we will no longer have any obligation to comply with the restrictive covenants, the merger covenant and other specified covenants under the applicable indenture, and the related events of default will no longer apply ("covenant defeasance").

        If a series of debt securities is defeased, the holders of the debt securities of the series affected will not be entitled to the benefits of the applicable indenture, except for obligations to register the transfer or exchange of debt securities, replace stolen, lost or mutilated debt securities or maintain paying agencies and hold moneys for payment in trust. In the case of covenant defeasance, our obligation to pay principal, premium and interest on the debt securities and, if applicable, guarantees of the payments will also survive.

        Unless we inform you otherwise in the prospectus supplement, we will be required to deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel that the deposit and related defeasance would not cause the holders of the debt securities to recognize income, gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we elect

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legal defeasance, that opinion of counsel must be based upon a ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or a change in law to that effect.

        No Personal Liability of General Partner.    Crosstex Energy GP, LLC, our general partner, and its directors, officers, employees and members, in such capacity, will not be liable for the obligations of the issuers or any Subsidiary Guarantor under the debt securities, the indentures or the guarantees or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, such obligations or their creation. By accepting a debt security, each holder of that debt security will have agreed to this provision and waived and released any such liability on the part of Crosstex Energy GP, LLC and its directors, officers, employees and members. This waiver and release are part of the consideration for our issuance of the debt securities. It is the view of the SEC that a waiver of liabilities under the federal securities laws is against public policy and unenforceable.

        Governing Law.    New York law will govern the indentures and the debt securities.

        Trustee.    We may appoint a separate trustee for any series of debt securities. We use the term "trustee" to refer to the trustee appointed with respect to any such series of debt securities. We may maintain banking and other commercial relationships with the trustee and its affiliates in the ordinary course of business, and the trustee may own debt securities.

        Form, Exchange, Registration and Transfer.    The debt securities will be issued in registered form, without interest coupons. There will be no service charge for any registration of transfer or exchange of the debt securities. However, payment of any transfer tax or similar governmental charge payable for that registration may be required.

        Debt securities of any series will be exchangeable for other debt securities of the same series, the same total principal amount and the same terms but in different authorized denominations in accordance with the applicable indenture. Holders may present debt securities for registration of transfer at the office of the security registrar or any transfer agent we designate. The security registrar or transfer agent will effect the transfer or exchange if its requirements and the requirements of the applicable indenture are met.

        The trustee will be appointed as security registrar for the debt securities. If a prospectus supplement refers to any transfer agents we initially designate, we may at any time rescind that designation or approve a change in the location through which any transfer agent acts. We are required to maintain an office or agency for transfers and exchanges in each place of payment. We may at any time designate additional transfer agents for any series of debt securities.

        In the case of any redemption, we will not be required to register the transfer or exchange of:

•

any debt security during a period beginning 15 business days prior to the mailing of the relevant notice of redemption and ending on the close of business on the day of mailing of such notice; or



•

any debt security that has been called for redemption in whole or in part, except the unredeemed portion of any debt security being redeemed in part.

        Payment and Paying Agents.    Unless we inform you otherwise in a prospectus supplement, payments on the debt securities will be made in U.S. dollars at the office of the trustee and any paying agent. At our option, however, payments may be made by wire transfer for global debt securities or by check mailed to the address of the person entitled to the payment as it appears in the security register. Unless we inform you otherwise in a prospectus supplement, interest payments may be made to the person in whose name the debt security is registered at the close of business on the record date for the interest payment.

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        Unless we inform you otherwise in a prospectus supplement, the trustee under the applicable indenture will be designated as the paying agent for payments on debt securities issued under that indenture. We may at any time designate additional paying agents or rescind the designation of any paying agent or approve a change in the office through which any paying agent acts.

        If the principal of or any premium or interest on debt securities of a series is payable on a day that is not a business day, the payment will be made on the following business day. For these purposes, unless we inform you otherwise in a prospectus supplement, a "business day" is any day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which banking institutions in New York, New York or a place of payment on the debt securities of that series is authorized or obligated by law, regulation or executive order to remain closed.

        Subject to the requirements of any applicable abandoned property laws, the trustee and paying agent will pay to us upon written request any money held by them for payments on the debt securities that remains unclaimed for two years after the date upon which that payment has become due. After payment to us, holders entitled to the money must look to us for payment. In that case, all liability of the trustee or paying agent with respect to that money will cease.

        Book-Entry Debt Securities.    The debt securities of a series may be issued in the form of one or more global debt securities that would be deposited with a depositary or its nominee identified in the prospectus supplement. Global debt securities may be issued in either temporary or permanent form. We will describe in the prospectus supplement the terms of any depositary arrangement and the rights and limitations of owners of beneficial interests in any global debt security.

Provisions Applicable Solely to the Subordinated Indenture

        Subordination.    Debt securities of a series may be subordinated to the issuers' "Senior Indebtedness," which is defined generally to include any obligation created or assumed by the issuers (or, if the series is guaranteed, any Subsidiary Guarantors) for the repayment of borrowed money, any purchase money obligation created or assumed by the issuer, and any guarantee therefor, whether outstanding or hereafter issued, unless, by the terms of the instrument creating or evidencing such obligation, it is provided that such obligation is subordinate or not superior in right of payment to the debt securities (or, if the series is guaranteed, the guarantee of any Subsidiary Guarantor), or to other obligations which are pari passu with or subordinated to the debt securities (or, if the series is guaranteed, the guarantee of any Subsidiary Guarantor). Subordinated debt securities will be subordinated in right of payment, to the extent and in the manner set forth in the subordinated indenture and the prospectus supplement relating to such series, to the prior payment of all of our indebtedness and that of any Subsidiary Guarantor that is designated as "Senior Indebtedness" with respect to the series.

        The holders of Senior Indebtedness of the issuers or, if applicable, a Subsidiary Guarantor will receive payment in full of the Senior Indebtedness before holders of subordinated debt securities will receive any payment of principal, premium or interest with respect to the subordinated debt securities upon any payment or distribution of our assets or, if applicable to any series of outstanding debt securities, the Subsidiary Guarantors' assets, to creditors:

•

upon a liquidation or dissolution of the issuers or, if applicable to any series of outstanding debt securities, the Subsidiary Guarantors; or



•

in a bankruptcy, receivership or similar proceeding relating to the issuers or, if applicable to any series of outstanding debt securities, to the Subsidiary Guarantors.

        Until the Senior Indebtedness is paid in full, any distribution to which holders of subordinated debt securities would otherwise be entitled will be made to the holders of Senior Indebtedness, except that the holders of subordinated debt securities may receive units representing limited partner interests

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and any debt securities that are subordinated to Senior Indebtedness to at least the same extent as the subordinated debt securities.

        If the issuers do not pay any principal, premium or interest with respect to Senior Indebtedness within any applicable grace period (including at maturity), or any other default on Senior Indebtedness occurs and the maturity of the Senior Indebtedness is accelerated in accordance with its terms, the issuers may not:

•

make any payments of principal, premium, if any, or interest with respect to subordinated debt securities;



•

make any deposit for the purpose of defeasance of the subordinated debt securities; or



•

repurchase, redeem or otherwise retire any subordinated debt securities, except that in the case of subordinated debt securities that provide for a mandatory sinking fund, the issuers may deliver subordinated debt securities to the trustee in satisfaction of our sinking fund obligation,

unless, in either case,

•

the default has been cured or waived and any declaration of acceleration has been rescinded;



•

the Senior Indebtedness has been paid in full in cash; or



•

the issuers and the trustee receive written notice approving the payment from the representatives of each issue of "Designated Senior Indebtedness."

Generally, "Designated Senior Indebtedness" will include:

•

any specified issue of Senior Indebtedness of at least $100.0 million; and



•

any other Senior Indebtedness that we may designate in respect of any series of subordinated debt securities.

        During the continuance of any default, other than a default described in the second preceding paragraph, that may cause the maturity of any Designated Senior Indebtedness to be accelerated immediately without further notice, other than any notice required to effect such acceleration, or the expiration of any applicable grace periods, the issuers may not pay the subordinated debt securities for a period called the "Payment Blockage Period." A Payment Blockage Period will commence on the receipt by the issuers and the trustee of written notice of the default, called a "Blockage Notice," from the representative of any Designated Senior Indebtedness specifying an election to effect a Payment Blockage Period and will end 179 days thereafter.

        The Payment Blockage Period may be terminated before its expiration:

•

by written notice from the person or persons who gave the Blockage Notice;



•

by repayment in full in cash of the Designated Senior Indebtedness with respect to which the Blockage Notice was given; or



•

if the default giving rise to the Payment Blockage Period is no longer continuing.

        Unless the holders of the Designated Senior Indebtedness have accelerated the maturity of the Designated Senior Indebtedness, we may resume payments on the subordinated debt securities after the expiration of the Payment Blockage Period.

        Generally, not more than one Blockage Notice may be given in any period of 360 consecutive days. The total number of days during which any one or more Payment Blockage Periods are in effect, however, may not exceed an aggregate of 179 days during any period of 360 consecutive days.

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        After all Senior Indebtedness is paid in full and until the subordinated debt securities are paid in full, holders of the subordinated debt securities will be subrogated to the rights of holders of Senior Indebtedness to receive distributions applicable to Senior Indebtedness.

        As a result of the subordination provisions described above, in the event of insolvency, the holders of Senior Indebtedness, as well as certain of our general creditors, may recover more, ratably, than the holders of the subordinated debt securities.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS

        The common units represent limited partner interests in Crosstex Energy, L.P. that entitle the holders to participate in our cash distributions and to exercise the rights or privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of holders of common units and our general partner in and to partnership distributions, see "Cash Distribution Policy" in this prospectus. For a general discussion of the expected federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of common units, see "Material Income Tax Considerations." References in this "Description of Common Units" to "we," "us" and "our" mean Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        Our outstanding common units are traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "XTEX."

        American Stock Transfer & Trust Company serves as registrar and transfer agent for our common units.

Transfer of Common Units

        Each purchaser of common units offered by this prospectus must execute a transfer application. By executing and delivering a transfer application, the purchaser of common units:

•

becomes the record holder of the common units and is an assignee until admitted into our partnership as a substituted limited partner;



•

automatically requests admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership;



•

agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of, and executes, our partnership agreement;



•

represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to enter into the partnership agreement;



•

grants powers of attorney to officers of our general partner and any liquidator of us as specified in the partnership agreement; and



•

makes the consents and waivers contained in the partnership agreement.

        An assignee will become a substituted limited partner of our partnership for the transferred common units upon the consent of our general partner and the recording of the name of the assignee on our books and records. Our general partner may withhold its consent in its sole discretion.

        A transferee's broker, agent or nominee may complete, execute and deliver a transfer application. We are entitled to treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder's rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

        Common units are securities and are transferable according to the laws governing transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to request admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units. A purchaser or transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a transfer application obtains only:

•

the right to assign the common unit to a purchaser or transferee; and



•

the right to transfer the right to seek admission as a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.

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        Thus, a purchaser or transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a transfer application:

•

will not receive cash distributions or federal income tax allocations, unless the common units are held in a nominee or "street name" account and the nominee or broker has executed and delivered a transfer application; and



•

may not receive some federal income tax information or reports furnished to record holders of common units.

        The transferor of common units has a duty to provide the transferee with all information that may be necessary to transfer the common units. The transferor does not have a duty to insure the execution of the transfer application by the transferee and has no liability or responsibility if the transferee neglects or chooses not to execute and forward the transfer application to the transfer agent.

        Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES

Issuance of Additional Partnership Securities

        We may issue additional partnership securities and options, rights, warrants and appreciation rights relating to the partnership securities for any partnership purpose at any time and from time to time to such persons for such consideration and on such terms and conditions as shall be established by our general partner in its sole discretion, all without the approval of the unitholders. In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, any additional partnership interests that we issue may, in the sole discretion of our general partner, have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled.

        The following is a description of the general terms and provisions of our partnership securities. The particular terms of any series of partnership securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement and the amendment to our partnership agreement relating to that series of partnership securities, which will be filed as an exhibit to or incorporated by reference in this prospectus at or before the time of issuance of any such series of partnership securities. If so indicated in a prospectus supplement, the terms of any such series may differ from the terms set forth below.

        Our general partner is authorized to approve the issuance of one or more series of partnership securities without further authorization of the unitholders and to fix the number of securities, the designations, rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions of any such series.

        The applicable prospectus supplement will set forth the number of securities, particular designation, relative rights and preferences and the limitations of any series of partnership securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered. The particular terms of any such series will include the following:

•

the maximum number of securities to constitute the series and the designation and ranking thereof;



•

the annual distribution rate, if any, on securities of the series, whether such rate is fixed or variable or both, the dates from which distributions will begin to accrue or accumulate, whether distributions will be cumulative and whether such distributions will be paid in cash, securities or otherwise;



•

whether the holders of the securities of the series will have any preemptive rights;



•

whether the securities of the series will be redeemable and, if so, the price and the terms and conditions on which the securities of the series may be redeemed, including the time during which securities of the series may be redeemed and any accumulated distributions thereof that the holders of the securities of the series will be entitled to receive upon the redemption thereof;



•

the liquidation preference, if any, applicable to securities of the series;



•

the terms and conditions, if any, on which the securities of the series will be convertible into, or exchangeable for, securities of any other class or classes of partnership securities, including the price or prices or the rate or rates of conversion or exchange and the method, if any, of adjusting the same; and



•

the voting rights, if any, of the securities of the series.

        Partnership securities will be fully paid and non-assessable when issued upon full payment of the purchase price therefor. The prospectus supplement will contain, if applicable, a description of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences relating to the purchase and ownership of the series of partnership securities offered by the prospectus supplement. The transfer agent, registrar and distributions disbursement agent for the partnership securities will be designated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

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DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

        The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement is included as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus constitutes a part. We summarize certain other provisions of the partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus, including in "Description of the Common Units," "Cash Distribution Policy" and "Material Income Tax Considerations."

Organization and Duration

        We were organized on July 12, 2002 and will have a perpetual existence except as provided below under "—Termination and Dissolution."

Purpose

        Our purpose under the partnership agreement is limited to serving as the limited partner of the operating partnership and engaging in any business activities that may be engaged in by the operating partnership or that are approved by our general partner. The partnership agreement of the operating partnership provides that the operating partnership may, directly or indirectly, engage in:

•

operations of the assets owned by it immediately before our initial public offering and any similar assets or properties acquired by it;



•

any other activity approved by the general partner; or



•

any activity that enhances the operations of an activity that is described in either of the two preceding clauses or any other activity provided such activity does not affect the operating partnership's treatment as a partnership for Federal income tax purposes.

        Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts deemed necessary to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

Power of Attorney

        Each limited partner, and each person who acquires a unit from a unitholder and executes and delivers a transfer application, grants to our general partner and, if appointed, a liquidator, a power of attorney to, among other things, execute and file documents required for our qualification, continuance or dissolution. The power of attorney also grants our general partner the authority to amend, and to make consents and waivers under, the partnership agreement.

Capital Contributions

        Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under "—Limited Liability."

Limited Liability

        Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, or Delaware Act, and that he otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of the partnership agreement, his liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital he is obligated to contribute to us for his common units plus his share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right, by the limited partners as a group:

•

to remove or replace our general partner;



•

to approve some amendments to the partnership agreement; or

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•

to take other action under the partnership agreement;

constituted "participation in the control" of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware to the same extent as the general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us who reasonably believe that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither the partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.

        Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, an assignee who becomes a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of his assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except the assignee is not obligated for liabilities unknown to him at the time he became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from the partnership agreement.

        Maintenance of our limited liability as a limited partner of the operating partnership may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which the operating partnership conducts business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there. Limitations on the liability of limited partners for the obligations of a limited partner have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our limited partner interest in the operating partnership or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by the limited partners as a group to remove or replace the general partner, to approve some amendments to the partnership agreement, or to take other action under the partnership agreement constituted "participation in the control" of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We will operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of the limited partners.

Voting Rights

        The following matters require the unitholder vote specified below. Certain significant decisions require approval by a "unit majority." We define "unit majority" as at least a majority of the

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outstanding common units and Series A Convertible Preferred Units representing limited partner interests of us (the "Series A Preferred Units") voting on an as-if converted basis.

Issuance of Additional Securities

        Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership securities and rights to buy partnership securities for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our general partner in its sole discretion without the approval of the unitholders.

        It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units or other equity securities. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share

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equally with the then-existing holders of common units in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional partnership interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of common units in our net assets.

        In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership securities interests that, in the sole discretion of our general partner, have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled.

        Upon the issuance of additional partnership securities, our general partner may, but will not be required to, make additional capital contributions to maintain its then current general partner interest in us. Moreover, our general partner will have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units, subordinated units or other equity securities whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue those securities to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain its then current percentage interest, including its interest represented by common units or other equity securities that existed immediately prior to each issuance. The holders of Series A Preferred Units have a right of first refusal to purchase additional partnership securities that rank pari passu with the Series A Preferred Units so long as GSO Crosstex Holdings LLC and its affiliates meet certain minimum ownership requirements set forth in our partnership agreement. The holders of common units will not have preemptive rights to acquire additional subordinated units, common units or other partnership securities.

Amendment of the Partnership Agreement

        General.    Amendments to the partnership agreement may be proposed only by or with the consent of our general partner, which consent may be given or withheld in its sole discretion. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner must seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as we describe below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

        Prohibited Amendments.    No amendment may be made that would:

•

enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected;



•

enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without the consent of our general partner, which may be given or withheld in its sole discretion;



•

change the term of our partnership;



•

provide that our partnership is not dissolved upon an election to dissolve our partnership by our general partner that is approved by a unit majority; or



•

give any person the right to dissolve our partnership other than our general partner's right to dissolve our partnership with the approval of a unit majority.

        The provision of the partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting together as a single class.

        No Unitholder Approval.    Our general partner may generally make amendments to the partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner or assignee to reflect:

•

a change in our name, the location of our principal place of business, our registered agent or our registered office;

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•

the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with the partnership agreement;



•

a change that, in the sole discretion of our general partner, is necessary or advisable for us to qualify or to continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that neither we, the operating partnership nor any of its subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes;



•

an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, agents or trustees, from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, or plan asset regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed;



•

subject to the limitations on the issuance of additional partnership securities described above, an amendment that in the discretion of our general partner is necessary or advisable for the authorization of additional partnership securities or rights to acquire partnership securities;



•

any amendment expressly permitted in the partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone;



•

an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of the partnership agreement;



•

any amendment that, in the discretion of our general partner, is necessary or advisable for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement;



•

a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and related changes; or



•

any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the preceding clauses.

        In addition, our general partner may make amendments to the partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner or assignee if those amendments, in the discretion of our general partner:

•

do not adversely affect the limited partners (or any particular class of limited partners as compared to other classes of limited partners) in any material respect;



•

are necessary or advisable to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute;



•

are necessary or advisable to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed for trading, compliance with any of which our general partner deems to be in our best interest and the best interest of our limited partners;



•

are necessary or advisable for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of the partnership agreement; or



•

are required to effect the intent expressed in this prospectus or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement.

        Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval.    Our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will not result in a loss of limited liability to the limited

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partners or result in our being treated as an entity for federal income tax purposes if one of the amendments described above under "—No Unitholder Approval" should occur. No other amendments to the partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the units unless we obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that the amendment will not affect the limited liability under applicable law of any of our limited partners or cause us, the operating partnership or its subsidiaries to be taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not previously taxed as such).

        In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of outstanding units in relation to other classes of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of units so affected. Any amendment that adversely affects any of the rights, preferences and privileges of the Series A Preferred Units in any respect or amends or modifies any of the terms of the Series A Preferred Units requires the approval of a majority of the outstanding Series A Preferred Units. Any amendment that reduces the voting percentage required to take any action must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners constituting not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced.

Action Relating to the Operating Partnership

        Without the approval of holders of units representing a unit majority, our general partner is prohibited from consenting on our behalf, as the limited partner of the operating partnership, to any amendment to the partnership agreement of the operating partnership or taking any action on our behalf permitted to be taken by a limited partner of the operating partnership, in each case that would adversely affect our limited partners (or any particular class of limited partners as compared to other classes of limited partners) in any material respect.

Merger, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

        The partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of units representing a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, including by way of merger, consolidation or other combination, or approving on our behalf the sale, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of our subsidiaries as a whole. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our general partner may also sell all or substantially all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without that approval.

        If conditions specified in the partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey some or all of our assets to, a newly formed entity if the sole purpose of that merger or conveyance is to change our legal form into another limited liability entity. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters' rights of appraisal under the partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other transaction or event.

Termination and Dissolution

        We will continue as a limited partnership until terminated under the partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:

•

the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority;

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•

the sale, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets and properties and our subsidiaries;



•

the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership; or



•

the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with the partnership agreement or withdrawal or removal following approval and admission of a successor.

        Upon a dissolution under the last clause, the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to reconstitute us and continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in the partnership agreement by forming a new limited partnership on terms identical to those in the partnership agreement and having as general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:

•

the action would not result in the loss of limited liability of any limited partner; and



•

neither our partnership, the reconstituted limited partnership nor the operating partnership would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue.

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

        Upon our dissolution, unless we are reconstituted and continued as a new limited partnership, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that the liquidator deems necessary or desirable in its judgment, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as provided in "Cash Distribution Policy—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation." The liquidator may defer liquidation of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to the partners.

Withdrawal or Removal of our General Partner

        Our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days' written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of the partnership agreement. In addition, the partnership agreement permits our general partner to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the unitholders. Please read "—Transfer of General Partner Interests" below.

        Upon the voluntary withdrawal of our general partner, other than as a result of a transfer by our general partner of all or a part of its general partner interest in us, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within 90 days after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree in writing to continue our business and to appoint a successor general partner. Please read "—Termination and Dissolution" above.

        Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66²/3% of the outstanding units, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of the general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units. The ownership of more than 33¹/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give it the practical ability to prevent its removal.

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        The partnership agreement also provides that if Crosstex Energy GP, LLC is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests at the time.

        In the event of removal of the general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of a general partner where that withdrawal violates the partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where a general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its incentive distribution rights for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. Or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.

        If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner's general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights will automatically convert into common units equal to the fair market value of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

        In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.

        Our general partner and its affiliates may at any time transfer units to one or more persons, without unitholder approval.

Transfer of General Partner Interest

        At any time, our general partner may sell or transfer all or part its general partner interest in us without the approval of the unitholders. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must assume the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of the partnership agreement, furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.

Transfer of Ownership Interests in our General Partner

        At any time, the members of our general partner may sell or transfer all or part of their membership interests in the general partner without the approval of the unitholders.

Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights

        Our general partner or its affiliates or a subsequent holder of incentive distribution rights may transfer its incentive distribution rights without the prior approval of the unitholders; provided, however, that the transferee must agree to be bound by the provisions of the partnership agreement.

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Change of Management Provisions

        The partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Crosstex Energy GP, LLC as our general partner or otherwise change management. If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors.

Limited Call Right

        If at any time our general partner and its affiliates hold more than 80% of the then-issued and outstanding partnership securities of any class, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the remaining partnership securities of the class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least ten but not more than 60 days notice. The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:

•

the highest cash price paid by our general partner or any of its affiliates for any partnership securities of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those partnership securities; and



•

the current market price as of the date three days before the date the notice is mailed.

        As a result of our general partner's right to purchase outstanding partnership securities, a holder of partnership securities may have his partnership securities purchased at an undesirable time or price. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his units in the market. Please read "Material Income Tax Considerations—Disposition of Common Units."

Meetings; Voting

        Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, unitholders or assignees who are record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited. Common units that are owned by an assignee who is a record holder, but who has not yet been admitted as a limited partner, will be voted by our general partner at the written direction of the record holder. Absent direction of this kind, the common units will not be voted, except that, in the case of common units held by our general partner on behalf of non-citizen assignees, our general partner will distribute the votes on those common units in the same ratios as the votes of limited partners on other units are cast.

        Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of the unitholders or without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage.

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        Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to his percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read "—Issuance of Additional Securities." The Series A Preferred Units have voting rights that are identical to the voting rights of the common units, with each Series A Preferred Unit entitled to one vote for each common unit into which such Series A Preferred Unit is convertible. If at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, or a direct or subsequently approved transferee of our general partner or its affiliates, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes. Common units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and his nominee provides otherwise.

        Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units under the partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.

Status as Limited Partner or Assignee

        An assignee of a unit, after executing and delivering a transfer application, but pending its admission as a substituted limited partner, is entitled to an interest equivalent to that of a limited partner for the right to share in allocations and distributions from us, including liquidating distributions. Our general partner will vote and exercise other powers attributable to units owned by an assignee that has not become a substitute limited partner at the written direction of the assignee. Transferees that do not execute and deliver a transfer application will be treated neither as assignees nor as record holders of units, and will not receive cash distributions, federal income tax allocations or reports furnished to holders of units. Please read "Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units."

Non-citizen Assignees; Redemption

        If we are or become subject to federal, state or local laws or regulations that, in the reasonable determination of our general partner, create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property that we have an interest in because of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of any limited partner or assignee, we may redeem the units held by the limited partner or assignee at their current market price. In order to avoid any cancellation or forfeiture, our general partner may require each limited partner or assignee to furnish information about his nationality, citizenship or related status. If a limited partner or assignee fails to furnish information about his nationality, citizenship or other related status within 30 days after a request for the information or our general partner determines after receipt of the information that the limited partner or assignee is not an eligible citizen, the limited partner or assignee may be treated as a non-citizen assignee. In addition to other limitations on the rights of an assignee that is not a substituted limited partner, a non-citizen assignee does not have the right to direct the voting of his units and may not receive distributions in-kind upon our liquidation.

Indemnification

        Under the partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:

•

our general partner;



•

any departing general partner;

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•

any person who is or was an affiliate of a general partner or any departing general partner;



•

any person who is or was a member, partner, officer, director, employee, agent or trustee of us or the operating partnership or our or its respective subsidiaries, our general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of us or the operating partnership or our or its respective subsidiaries, the general partner or any departing general partner; or



•

any person who is or was serving at the request of a general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of a general partner or any departing general partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person.

        Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees in its sole discretion, our general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or loan funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under the partnership agreement.

Books and Reports

        Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books will be maintained for both tax and financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.

        We will furnish or make available to record holders of common units, within 120 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also furnish or make available summary financial information within 90 days after the close of each quarter.

        We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information will be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to unitholders will depend on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining his federal and state tax liability and filing his federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with information.

Right to Inspect Our Books and Records

        The partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to his interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable demand and at his own expense, have furnished to him:

•

a current list of the name and last known address of each partner;



•

a copy of our tax returns;



•

information as to the amount of cash, and a description and statement of the agreed value of any other property or services, contributed or to be contributed by each partner and the date on which each became a partner;



•

copies of the partnership agreement, the certificate of limited partnership of the partnership, related amendments and powers of attorney under which they have been executed;



•

information regarding the status of our business and financial condition; and



•

any other information regarding our affairs as is just and reasonable.

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        Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner believes in good faith is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential.

Registration Rights

        Under the partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units or other partnership securities proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of Crosstex Energy GP, LLC as our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.

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CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY

Distributions of Available Cash

        References in this "Cash Distribution Policy" to "we," "us" and "our" mean Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        General.    Within approximately 45 days after the end of each quarter, we will distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.

        Definition of Available Cash.    Available Cash means, for any quarter ending prior to liquidation:

•

the sum of



•

all cash and cash equivalents of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and its subsidiaries on hand at the end of that quarter; and



•

all additional cash and cash equivalents of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and its subsidiaries on hand on the date of determination of available cash for that quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of that quarter;



•

less the amount of cash reserves that is necessary or appropriate in the reasonable discretion of the general partner to



•

provide for the proper conduct of the business of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and its subsidiaries (including reserves for future capital expenditures and for future credit needs of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and its subsidiaries) after that quarter;



•

comply with applicable law or any debt instrument or other agreement or obligation to which Crosstex Energy, L.P. or any of its subsidiaries is a party or its assets are subject; and



•

provide funds for minimum quarterly distributions and cumulative common unit arrearages for any one or more of the next four quarters;

provided, however, that disbursements made by Crosstex Energy, L.P. or any of its subsidiaries or cash reserves established, increased or reduced after the end of that quarter but on or before the date of determination of available cash for that quarter shall be deemed to have been made, established, increased or reduced, for purposes of determining available cash, within that quarter if the general partner so determines.

Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus

        General.    All cash distributed to unitholders will be characterized either as "operating surplus" or "capital surplus." We distribute available cash from operating surplus differently than available cash from capital surplus.

        Definition of Operating Surplus.    For any period operating surplus generally means:

•

our cash balance of $7.2 million at the closing of our initial public offering; plus



•

$8.9 million; plus



•

all of our cash receipts since the initial public offering, excluding cash from borrowings that are not working capital borrowings, sales of equity and debt securities and sales or other dispositions of assets outside the ordinary course of business; plus



•

working capital borrowings made after the end of a quarter but before the date of determination of operating surplus for the quarter; less

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•

all of our operating expenditures since the initial public offering, including the repayment of working capital borrowings, but not the repayment of other borrowings, and including maintenance capital expenditures, and less



•

the amount of cash reserves that the general partner deems necessary or advisable to provide funds for future operating expenditures.

        Definition of Capital Surplus.    Capital surplus will generally be generated only by:

•

borrowings other than working capital borrowings;



•

sales of debt and equity securities; and



•

sales or other disposition of assets for cash, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other current assets sold in the ordinary course of business or as part of normal retirements or replacements of assets.

        Characterization of Cash Distributions.    We will treat all available cash distributed as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since we began operations equals the operating surplus as of the most recent date of determination of available cash. We will treat any amount distributed in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as capital surplus. While we do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus in the near term, we may determine that the sale or disposition of an asset or business owned or acquired by us may be beneficial to our unitholders. If we distribute to you the equity we own in a subsidiary or the proceeds from the sale of one of our businesses, such a distribution would be characterized as a distribution from capital surplus.

Distributions to Series A Preferred Units

        On January 19, 2010, we issued 14,705,882 Series A Preferred Units. The Series A Preferred Units are convertible in whole or in part into common units at the holder's election upon the earlier of (i) the business day following the record date for the distribution for the quarter ending December 31, 2013 and (ii) February 10, 2014. The number of common units into which a Series A Preferred Unit is convertible will be an amount equal to (x) the sum of $8.50 and all accrued and accumulated but unpaid distributions, divided by (y) the conversion price, which will initially be $8.50 per Series A Preferred Unit (subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments) (the "Conversion Price").

        Commencing on the business day following the payment of our distribution for the quarter ending December 31, 2013, we will have the right at any time to convert all or part of the Series A Preferred Units then outstanding, provided that (i) the daily volume-weighted average trading price of the common units on the national exchange on which the common units are listed or admitted to trading must be greater than 150% of the then-applicable conversion price for 20 out of the trailing 30 days ending on two trading days before the date on which we deliver notice of such conversion, and (ii) the average daily trading volume of common units on such national exchange must have exceeded 250,000 common units for 20 out of the trailing 30 trading days ending on two trading days before the date on which we deliver notice of such conversion.

        Series A Preferred Units will receive quarterly distributions in an amount equal to the greater of (a) the amount of aggregate distributions that would be payable had such Series A Preferred Units converted into common units and (b) a fixed rate of $0.2125 per Series A Preferred Unit; provided that with respect to any distribution paid in-kind in the form of additional Series A Preferred Units relating to any quarter after the quarter ended December 31, 2013, the rate in clause (b) will increase to $0.2550 per Series A Preferred Unit. Such distributions will be paid in arrears within 45 days after the end of each quarter and prior to any other distributions are made with respect to the common units.

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        For each quarter through the quarter ending December 31, 2013 (the "PIK Period"), the Series A Preferred Units will receive quarterly distributions in-kind in the form of additional Series A Preferred Units ("PIK Preferred Units") without penalty and without affecting our ability to pay cash distributions on the common units. The number of PIK Preferred Units to be issued during the PIK Period will be equal to the cash equivalent distribution amount per Series A Preferred Unit divided by $13.25 per unit.

        Subsequent to the PIK Period, we may pay distributions in cash, in-kind in the form additional Series A Preferred Units or any combination thereof, as determined by us in our sole discretion; provided that we are not permitted to pay any distribution with respect to any common units in any quarter subsequent to the PIK Period in which the Series A Preferred Units do not receive a distribution in full in cash. In the event we pay a distribution in-kind subsequent to the PIK Period, then the number of PIK Preferred Units to be issued will be equal to the cash equivalent distribution amount per Series A Preferred Unit divided by $8.50 per unit. Cash distributions on the Series A Preferred Units are deducted from the calculation of the amount of available cash.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus

        Subject to the payment of distributions to the Series A Preferred Units described above, we will make distributions of available cash from operating surplus in the following manner:

•

First, 100% to the general partner and the unitholders in accordance with their respective then-current percentage interests until we distribute for each outstanding unit an amount equal to $0.25 (the "minimum quarterly distribution") for that quarter;



•

Second, (A) to the general partner in accordance with its then-current percentage interest, (B) 13% to the holders of the incentive distribution rights, pro rata, and (C) to all unitholders, pro rata, a percentage equal to 100% less the sum of the percentages specified under subclauses (A) and (B) until each unitholder receives a total of $0.3125 per unit for that quarter (the "first target distribution");



•

Third, (A) to the general partner in accordance with its then-current percentage interest, (B) 23% to the holders of the incentive distribution rights, pro rata, and (C) to all unitholders, pro rata, a percentage equal to 100% less the sum of the percentages specified under subclauses (A) and (B) until each unitholder receives a total of $0.375 per unit for that quarter (the "second target distribution"); and



•

Thereafter, (A) to the general partner in accordance with its then-current percentage interest, (B) 48% to the holders of the incentive distribution rights, pro rata, and (C) to all unitholders, pro rata, a percentage equal to 100% less the sum of the percentages specified under subclauses (A) and (B).

Distributions from Capital Surplus

        How Distributions from Capital Surplus will be Made.    Subject to the payment of distributions to the Series A Preferred Units described above, we will make distributions of available cash from capital surplus in the following manner:

•

First, (A) to the general partner in accordance with its then-current percentage interest and (B) to all unitholders holding common units, pro rata, a percentage equal to 100% less the general partner's percentage interest, until we distribute for each common unit that was issued in the initial public offering, an amount of available cash from capital surplus equal to the initial public offering price; and

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•

Thereafter, we will make all distributions of available cash from capital surplus as if they were from operating surplus.

        Effect of a Distribution from Capital Surplus.    The partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from the initial public offering, which is a return of capital. The initial public offering price less any distributions of capital surplus per unit is referred to as the "unrecovered initial unit price." Each time a distribution of capital surplus is made, the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the corresponding reduction in the unrecovered initial unit price.

Adjustment to the Minimum Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels

        In addition to adjusting the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our units into fewer units or subdivide our units into a greater number of units we will proportionately adjust the minimum quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the unrecovered initial unit price.

Distributions of Cash upon Liquidation

        If we dissolve in accordance with the partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called a liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and our general partner, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation; provided, however, that in preference to the holders of our other securities, we will distribute to the holders of Series A Preferred Units an amount equal to the greater of (a) the sum of (i) the Conversion Price multiplied by the number of Series A Preferred Units owned by such holders, plus (ii) all accrued but unpaid distributions on such Series A Preferred Units or (b) the amount of aggregate distributions that would be payable had such Series A Preferred Units converted into common units.

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MATERIAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

        This section is a summary of the material tax considerations that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the U.S. and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P., counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Code (the "Treasury Regulations") and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to "us" or "we" are references to Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        The following discussion does not comment on all federal income tax matters affecting us or the unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the U.S. and has only limited application to corporations, estates, trusts, partnerships and entities treated like partnerships for federal income tax purposes, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and non-U.S. persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the United States), IRAs, real estate investment trusts (REITs), employee benefit plans or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose "functional currency" is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a "straddle," "hedge," "conversion transaction" or other risk reduction transaction, and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Code. In addition, the discussion only comments to a limited extent on state, and does not comment on local or foreign, tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult, and depend on, his own tax advisor in analyzing the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of common units.

        No ruling has been or will be requested from the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") regarding any matter affecting us or prospective unitholders. Instead, we will rely on opinions of Baker Botts L.L.P. Unlike a ruling, an opinion of counsel represents only that counsel's best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units and the prices at which common units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and our general partner and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

        All statements as to matters of law and legal conclusions, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinions of Baker Botts L.L.P. and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us.

        For the reasons described below, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units (please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales"); (ii) whether our monthly convention for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees"); and (iii) whether our method for

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depreciating Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election" and "—Uniformity of Common Units").

Partnership Status

        A partnership is not a taxable entity and incurs no federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing his federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner's adjusted basis in his partnership interest.

        Section 7704 of the Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the "Qualifying Income Exception," exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of "qualifying income." Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the transportation, storage, processing and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and other products thereof. Other types of qualifying income include interest (other than from a financial business), dividends, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income.

        No ruling has been or will be sought from the IRS and the IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of the operating partnership for federal income tax purposes or whether our operations generate "qualifying income" under Section 7704 of the Code. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. on such matters. It is the opinion of Baker Botts L.L.P. that, based upon the Code, its regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that:

•

We will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; and



•

The operating partnership will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

        In rendering its opinion, Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Baker Botts L.L.P. has relied are:

•

Neither we nor the operating partnership has elected or will elect to be treated as a corporation; and



•

For every taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Baker Botts L.L.P. has opined or will opine is "qualifying income" within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Code; and



•

Each hedging transaction that we treat as resulting in qualifying income of the type has been and will be appropriately identified as a hedging transaction pursuant to applicable Treasury Regulations, and has been and will be associated with oil, gas, or other products thereof that are held or to be held by us in activities that Baker Botts L.L.P. has opined or will opine result in qualifying income.

        We believe that these representations have been true in the past and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.

        If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed

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corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.

        If we were taxed as a corporation for federal income tax purposes in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to the unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder's tax basis in his common units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder's tax basis in his common units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder's cash flow and after-tax return and thus would likely result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.

        The discussion below is based on Baker Botts L.L.P.'s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

Tax Treatment of Income Earned Through C Corporation Subsidiaries

        A material portion of our taxable income is earned through C corporation subsidiaries. Such C corporation subsidiaries are subject to federal income tax on their taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 35%, and will likely pay state (and possibly local) income tax at varying rates, on their taxable income. Any such entity level taxes will reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders. Distributions from any such C corporation subsidiary will generally be taxed again to unitholders as dividend income to the extent of current and accumulated earnings and profits of such subsidiary. As of January 1, 2013, the maximum federal income tax rate applicable to such dividend income which is allocable to individuals is 20%. An individual unitholder's share of dividend and interest income from our C corporation subsidiaries would constitute portfolio income that could not be offset by the unitholder's share of our other losses or deductions. The assets held or formerly held through our C corporation subsidiaries have minimal tax basis. As a result, if such assets were to be sold by us, our C corporation subsidiary that then holds or formerly held such assets would recognize substantial amounts of taxable income on which it would owe corporate level tax.

Limited Partner Status

        Unitholders who have become limited partners of Crosstex Energy, L.P. will be treated as partners of Crosstex Energy, L.P. for federal income tax purposes. Also:

•

assignees who have executed and delivered transfer applications, and are awaiting admission as limited partners, and



•

unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units

will be treated as partners of Crosstex Energy, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

        As there is no direct or indirect controlling authority addressing the federal income tax treatment of assignees of common units who are entitled to execute and deliver transfer applications and thereby become entitled to direct the exercise of attendant rights, but who fail to execute and deliver transfer applications, Baker Botts L.L.P.'s opinion does not extend to these persons. Furthermore, a purchaser or other transferee of common units who does not execute and deliver a transfer application may not

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receive some federal income tax information or reports furnished to record holders of common units unless the common units are held in a nominee or street name account and the nominee or broker has executed and delivered a transfer application for those common units.

        A beneficial owner of common units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for federal income tax purposes. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales."

        Income, gain, deductions or losses would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes would therefore be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of holding common units in Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        The references to "unitholders" in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in Crosstex Energy, L.P. for federal income tax purposes.

Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

        Flow-Through of Taxable Income.    Subject to the discussion below under "—Tax Treatment of Income Earned Through C Corporations" and the discussion below under "—Entity-Level Collections," we will not pay any federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. The income we allocate to unitholders will generally be taxable as ordinary income. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

        Treatment of Distributions.    Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds his tax basis in his common units immediately before the distribution. Cash distributions made by us to a unitholder in an amount in excess of a unitholder's tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of our common units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under "—Disposition of Common Units" below. Any reduction in a unitholder's share of our liabilities for which no partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as "nonrecourse liabilities," will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder's "at-risk" amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, the Unitholder will be required the recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read "—Limitations on Deductibility of Losses."

        A decrease in a unitholder's percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units will decrease his share of our nonrecourse liabilities under Section 752 of the Code, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in his common units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder's share of our "unrealized receivables," including depreciation recapture, and/or substantially appreciated "inventory items," each as defined in the Code, and collectively, "Section 751 Assets." To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made to him. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder's realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion

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of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder's tax basis (often zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

        Basis of Common Units.    A unitholder's initial tax basis for his common units will generally equal the amount he paid for our common units plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income and by any increases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder's share of our losses, by any decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. A unitholder generally will have no share of our debt that is recourse to our general partner, but will have a share, generally based on his share of profits, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

        Limitations on Deductibility of Losses.    The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in his units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder's stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations) to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be "at risk" with respect to our activities, if that is less than his tax basis. A unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at -risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that his at-risk amount is subsequently increased, provided such losses do not exceed such unitholders' tax basis in his common units. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be utilizable.

        In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to another unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder's at -risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder's units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities.

        In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally defined as trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer's income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder's investments in other publicly traded partnerships, or salary or active business income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder's share of income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.

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        A unitholder's share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly traded partnerships.

        Limitations on Interest Deductions.    The deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer's "investment interest expense" is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer's "net investment income." Investment interest expense includes:

•

interest on indebtedness properly allocable to property held for investment;



•

our interest expense attributed to income that is treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules; and



•

the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to portfolio income.

        The computation of a unitholder's investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable) qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated in Notice 88-75, 1988-2 C.B. 386, that the net passive income earned by a publicly traded partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder's share of to income that is treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules will be treated as investment income.

        Entity-Level Collections.    If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or our general partner or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a person whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our partnership agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our partnership agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund.

        Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction.    In general, if we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among the general partner and the common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. At any time that distributions are made to the common units in excess of distributions to certain other classes of units, or incentive distributions are made to the general partner, gross income will be allocated to the recipients to the extent of those excess distributions. If we have a net loss, that loss will be allocated first to the general partner and the common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts and, second, to the general partner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any items of loss or deduction that are attributable to compensatory transfers of stock, stock options or other property by our general partner or Crosstex Energy, Inc. to any employee or other service provider will generally be specially allocated to the general partner.

        Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated to account for (i) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time of an offering and

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(ii) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of any assets contributed to us that exists at the time of such contribution (the difference described in clauses (i) and (ii) are together referred to in this discussion as the "Book-Tax Disparity"). The effect of these allocations, referred to as Section 704(c) Allocations, to a unitholder purchasing common units from us in an offering will, as to those assets in respect of which we use the remedial method, be essentially the same as if the tax bases of our assets were equal to their fair market values at the time of such offering. In the event we issue additional common units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, we will make "reverse Section 704(c) Allocations," similar to the Section 704(c) Allocations described above, to all holders of partnership interests immediately prior to such issuance or other transactions to account for the difference between the "book" basis for purposes of maintaining capital accounts and the fair market value of all property held by us at the time of such issuance or future transaction. In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts, if negative capital accounts nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate the negative balance as quickly as possible.

        An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required under the Section 704(c) principles described above, will generally be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner's share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has "substantial economic effect." In any other case, a partner's share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

•

his relative contributions to us;



•

the interests of all the partners in profits and losses;



•

the interests of all the partners in cash flows; and



•

the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation.

        Baker Botts L.L.P. is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in "—Section 754 Election," "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees," and "Uniformity of Common Units," allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect under Section 704 of the Code for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner's share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

        Treatment of Short Sales.    A unitholder whose units are loaned to a "short seller" to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

•

any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder;



•

any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and



•

all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income.

        Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their

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brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please also read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

        Alternative Minimum Tax.    Each unitholder will be required to take into account his distributive share of any items of our income, gain, loss or deduction for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. We do not expect to generate significant tax preference items or adjustments. The current minimum tax rate for noncorporate taxpayers is 26% on the first $175,000 ($87,500 for married individuals filing separately) of alternative minimum taxable income in excess of the exemption amount and 28% on any additional alternative minimum taxable income. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the impact of an investment in units on their liability for the alternative minimum tax.

        Tax Rates.    The highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income and long-term capital gains of individuals currently is 39.6% and 20%, respectively. These rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.

        Section 1411 of the Code imposes a 3.8% Medicare tax on certain investment income earned by certain individuals, estates and trusts for taxable years. For these purposes, investment income generally includes a unitholder's allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of units. In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder's net income from all investments, and (ii) the amount by which the unitholder's adjusted gross income exceeds (A) $250,000 (if unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), (B) $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or (C) $200,000 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (1) undistributed net investment income, or (2) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins.

        Section 754 Election.    We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS unless there is a constructive termination of the partnership. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Constructive Termination." The election will generally permit us to adjust a common unit purchaser's tax basis in our assets, or inside basis, under Section 743(b) of the Code to reflect his purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases common units directly from us, including a purchaser of units in this offering. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (i) his share of our tax basis in our assets, or common basis, and (ii) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.

        Where the remedial allocation method is adopted (which we have generally adopted as to all of our properties), the Treasury Regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue Code require a portion of the Section 743(b) adjustment that is attributable to recovery property under Section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code whose book basis is in excess of its tax basis to be depreciated over the remaining cost recovery period for the Section 704(c) built in gain. Under Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code, rather than cost recovery deductions under Section 168, is generally required to be depreciated using either the straight-line method or the 150% declining balance method. Under our partnership agreement, the general partner is authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of units even if that position is not consistent with these and any other Treasury Regulations. Although Baker Botts L.L.P. is unable to opine as to the validity of this approach because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on this issue, we intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of property that has a Book-Tax Disparity, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and

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useful life applied to the property's unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as non-amortizable to the extent attributable to property which is not amortizable. This method is consistent with the methods employed by other publicly traded partnerships but is arguably inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. To the extent this Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may take a depreciation or amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation or amortization, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. This kind of aggregate approach may result in lower annual depreciation or amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders. Please read "—Uniformity of Common Units." A unitholder's tax basis for his common units is reduced by his share of our deductions (whether or not such deductions were claimed on an individual's income tax return) so that any position we take that understates deductions will overstate the common unitholder's basis in his common units, which may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such units. Please see "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss." The IRS may challenge our position with respect to depreciating or amortizing the Section 743(b) adjustment we take to preserve the uniformity of the units. If such a challenge were sustained, the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.

        A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee's tax basis in his units is higher than the units' share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. In that case, as a result of the election, the transferee would have, among other items, a greater amount of depreciation deductions and his share of any gain or loss on a sale of our assets would be less. A basis adjustment is required regardless of whether a Section 754 election is made in the case of a transfer of an interest in us if we have a substantial built-in loss immediately after the transfer, or if we distribute property and have a substantial basis reduction. Generally a built-in loss or a basis reduction is substantial if it exceeds $250,000.

        The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally nonamortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that the deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

Tax Treatment of Operations

        Accounting Method and Taxable Year.    We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees."

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        Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization.    The tax basis of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. The federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our unitholders holding interests in us prior to any such offering. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction."

        To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods, including bonus depreciation to the extent available, that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets subject to these allowances are placed in service. Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Code.

        If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation previously deducted and the nature of the property, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of his interest in us. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction" and "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

        The costs we incur in selling our units (called "syndication expenses") must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us. The underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

        Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties.    The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the amount of initial tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates of value and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or determinations of basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Common Units

        Recognition of Gain or Loss.    Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder's tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder's amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder's share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

        Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a common unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder's tax basis in that common unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the common unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder's tax basis in that common unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

        Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a "dealer" in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at a maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 20%. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which will likely

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be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Code to the extent attributable to assets giving rise to depreciation recapture or other "unrealized receivables" or to "inventory items" we own. The term "unrealized receivables" includes potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables, inventory items and depreciation recapture may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income each year, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations.

        The IRS ruled in Rev. Rul. 84-53, 1984-1 C.B. 159, that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an "equitable apportionment" method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner's tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner's entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the common units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed above, a common unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of common units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of common units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.

        Section 1259 of the Code can affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an "appreciated" partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

•

a short sale;



•

an offsetting notional principal contract; or



•

a futures or forward contract;

in each case, with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property.

        Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

        Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees.    In general, our taxable income and losses will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis and will be subsequently apportioned among the unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to as the "Allocation Date." However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business will be allocated among the unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which that gain or loss is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

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        Although simplifying conventions are contemplated by the Code and most publicly traded partnerships use similar simplifying conventions, the use of this method may not be permitted under existing Treasury Regulations as there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on this issue. Recently, however, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued proposed Treasury Regulations that provide a safe harbor pursuant to which a publicly traded partnership may use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders, although such tax items must be prorated on a daily basis. Nonetheless, the proposed regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have adopted. Existing publicly traded partnerships are entitled to rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations; however, they are not binding on the IRS and are subject to change until final Treasury Regulations are issued. Accordingly, Baker Botts L.L.P. is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferor and transferee unitholders because the issue has not been finally resolved by the IRS or the courts. If this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations, or only applies to transfers of less than all of the unitholder's interest, our taxable income or losses might be reallocated among the unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferor and transferee unitholders, as well as unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year, to conform to a method permitted under future Treasury Regulations.

        A unitholder who disposes of units prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deductions attributable to that quarter but will not be entitled to receive that cash distribution.

        Notification Requirements.    A unitholder who sells any of his units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a sale may lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the U.S. and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.

        Constructive Termination.    We will be considered to have terminated our partnership for federal income tax purposes upon the sale or exchange of our interests that, in the aggregate, constitute 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve-month period. For purposes of measuring whether the 50% threshold is reached, multiple sales of the same interest are counted only once. A constructive termination results in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. A constructive termination occurring on a date other than December 31 will result in us filing two tax returns (and common unitholders could receive two Schedules K-1 if the relief discussed below is not available) for one fiscal year and the cost of the preparation of these returns will be borne by all common unitholders. We would be required to make new tax elections after a termination, including a new election under Section 754 of the Code, and a termination would result in a deferral of our deductions for depreciation. A termination could also result in penalties if we were unable to determine that the termination had occurred. Moreover, a termination might either accelerate the application of, or subject us to, any tax legislation enacted before the termination. The IRS has recently announced a relief procedure whereby if a publicly traded partnership that has technically terminated requests publicly traded partnership technical termination relief and the IRS grants such relief, among other things, the partnership will only have to provide one Schedule K-1 to unitholders for the year notwithstanding two partnership tax years.

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Uniformity of Common Units

        Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the common units to a purchaser of these common units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. Any non-uniformity could have an impact upon the value of our units. The timing of deductions attributable to Section 743(b) adjustments to the common basis of our assets with respect to persons purchasing units from another unitholder may affect the uniformity of our units. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election."

        We intend to depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of property that has a Book-Tax Disparity, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the property's unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as nonamortizable, to the extent attributable to property the common basis of which is not amortizable, consistent with the regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue Code, even though that position may be inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. Please see "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election." To the extent that the Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may adopt a depreciation and amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation and amortization deductions, whether attributable to a common basis or Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable methods and lives as if they had purchased a direct interest in our property. If this position is adopted, it may result in lower annual depreciation and amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders and risk the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions not taken in the year that these deductions are otherwise allowable. This position will not be adopted if we determine that the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions will have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. If we choose not to utilize this aggregate method, we may use any other reasonable depreciation and amortization method to preserve the uniformity of the intrinsic tax characteristics of any units that would not have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. The IRS may challenge any method of depreciating the Section 743(b) adjustment described in this paragraph. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please see "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

        Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S. person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our common units.

        Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from federal income tax, including individual retirement accounts and other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to it.

        Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the U.S. because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay

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federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, we will withhold at the highest applicable effective tax rate from cash distributions made quarterly to foreign unitholders. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

        In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular federal income tax, on its share of our income and gain, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation's "U.S. net equity," which is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the U.S. and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a "qualified resident." In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Code.

        A foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign unitholder. Under Rev. Rul. 91-32, 1991-1 C.B. 107, interpreting the scope of "effectively connected income," a foreign unitholder would be considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the U.S. by virtue of the U.S. activities of the partnership, and part or all of that unitholder's gain would be effectively connected with that unitholder's indirect U.S. trade or business. In this regard, substantially all of our assets (excluding the stock we own in our C corporation subsidiaries) are used in the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. Moreover, under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, a foreign common unitholder generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax upon the sale or disposition of a common unit if (i) he owned (directly or constructively applying certain attribution rules) more than 5% of our common units at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of such disposition and (ii) 50% or more of the fair market value of all of our assets consisted of U.S. real property interests at any time during the shorter of the period during which such unitholder held the common units or the five-year period ending on the date of disposition. Currently, more than 50% of our assets consist of U.S. real property interests and we do not expect that to change in the foreseeable future. Therefore, foreign unitholders may be subject to federal income tax on gain from the sale or disposition of their units.

Administrative Matters

        Information Returns and Audit Procedures.    We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each taxable year (generally, the calendar year), specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder's share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Baker Botts L.L.P. can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

        The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year's tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder's return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.

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        Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. The Code requires that one partner be designated as the "Tax Matters Partner" for these purposes. Our partnership agreement names our general partner as our Tax Matters Partner.

        The Tax Matters Partner has made and will make some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% profits interest in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5% interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

        A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

        Additional Withholding Requirements.    Under recently enacted legislation, the relevant withholding agent may be required to withhold 30% of any interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income from sources within the United States ("FDAP Income") or gross proceeds from the sale of any property of a type which can produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States paid to (i) a foreign financial institution (for which purposes includes foreign broker-dealers, clearing organizations, investment companies, hedge funds and certain other investment entities) unless such foreign financial institution agrees to verify, report and disclose its U.S. accountholders and meets certain other specified requirements or (ii) a non-financial foreign entity that is a beneficial owner of the payment unless such entity certifies that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner and such entity meets certain other specified requirements or otherwise qualifies for an exemption from this withholding. Under recently finalized Treasury Regulations, withholding only applies to payments of FDAP Income which are made after December 31, 2013, and to payments of relevant gross proceeds which are made after December 31, 2016. Non-U.S. and U.S. unitholders are encouraged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this legislation on their investment in our common units.

        Nominee Reporting.    Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

•

the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;



•

a statement regarding whether the beneficial owner is:



(1)

a person that is not a U.S. person;



(2)

a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly-owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or



(3)

a tax-exempt entity;



•

the amount and description of common units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and

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•

specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from sales.

        Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $100 per failure, up to a maximum of $1,500,000 per calendar year, is imposed for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

        Accuracy-Related Penalties.    An additional tax equal to 20% of the amount of any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, substantial understatements of income tax and substantial valuation misstatements, is imposed. No penalty will be imposed, however, for any portion of an underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding that portion.

        For individuals, a substantial understatement of income tax in any taxable year exists if the amount of the understatement exceeds the greater of 10% of the tax required to be shown on the return for the taxable year or $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). The amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced if any portion is attributable to a position adopted on the return:

•

for which there is, or was, "substantial authority"; or



•

as to which there is a reasonable basis and the pertinent facts of that position are disclosed on the return.

        If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an "understatement" of income for which no "substantial authority" exists, we must disclose the pertinent facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty. More stringent rules apply to "tax shelters," which we do not believe includes us, or any of our investments, plans or arrangements.

        A substantial valuation misstatement exists if (a) the value of any property, or the adjusted basis of any property, claimed on a tax return is 150% or more of the amount determined to be the correct amount of the valuation or adjusted basis, (b) the price for any property or services (or for the use of property) claimed on any such return with respect to any transaction between persons described in Section 482 of the Code is 200% or more (or 50% or less) of the amount determined under Code Section 482 to be the correct amount of such price, or (c) the net Section 482 transfer price adjustment for the taxable year exceeds the lesser of $5 million or 10% of the taxpayer's gross receipts. No penalty is imposed unless the portion of the underpayment attributable to a substantial valuation misstatement exceeds $5,000 ($10,000 for most corporations). If the valuation claimed on a return is 200% or more than the correct valuation or certain other thresholds are met, the penalty imposed increases to 40%. We do not anticipate making any valuation misstatements.

        In addition, the 20% accuracy-related penalty also applies to any portion of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to transactions lacking economic substance. To the extent that such transactions are not disclosed, the penalty imposed is increased to 40%. Additionally, there is no reasonable cause defense to the imposition of this penalty to such transactions.

        Reportable Transactions.    If we were to engage in a "reportable transaction," we (and possibly you and others) would be required to make a detailed disclosure of the transaction to the IRS. A transaction may be a reportable transaction based upon any of several factors, including the fact that it is a type of tax avoidance transaction publicly identified by the IRS as a "listed transaction" or that it

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produces certain kinds of losses for partnerships, individuals, S corporations, and trusts in excess of $2 million in any single year, or $4 million in any combination of six successive tax years. Our participation in a reportable transaction could increase the likelihood that our federal income tax information return (and possibly your tax return) would be audited by the IRS. Please read "—Information Returns and Audit Procedures."

        Moreover, if we were to participate in a reportable transaction with a significant purpose to avoid or evade tax, or in any listed transaction, you may be subject to the following provisions:

•

accuracy-related penalties with a broader scope, significantly narrower exceptions, and potentially greater amounts than described above at "—Accuracy-Related Penalties";



•

for those persons otherwise entitled to deduct interest on federal tax deficiencies, nondeductibility of interest on any resulting tax liability; and



•

in the case of a listed transaction, an extended statute of limitations.

We do not expect to engage in any "reportable transactions."

Recent Legislative Developments

        The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time members of the U.S. Congress propose and consider substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that affect publicly traded partnerships. One legislative proposal made during 2012 but which was not enacted would have eliminated the qualifying income exception upon which we rely for our treatment as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please read "—Partnership Status." We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted. However, it is possible that a change in law could affect us and may be applied retroactively. Any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

        In addition to federal income taxes, you likely will be subject to other taxes, such as state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which you are a resident. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider their potential impact on his investment in us. We currently own property and do business in several states, most of which impose personal income taxes on individuals. Most of these states also impose income tax on corporations and other entities. Moreover, we may also own property or do business in other states in the future that impose income or similar taxes on nonresident individuals. Although you may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions because your income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirement, a unitholder may be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in other jurisdictions in which we do business or own property, now or in the future, and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. In some jurisdictions, tax losses may not produce a tax benefit in the year incurred and may not be available to offset income in subsequent taxable years. Some jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder's income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-Level Collections." Based on current law

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and our estimate of our future operations, the general partner anticipates that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.

        It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent jurisdictions, of his investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult, and depend upon, his tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of him. Baker Botts L.L.P. has not rendered an opinion on the state, local or foreign tax consequences of an investment in us.

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

        We may sell the securities being offered hereby directly to purchasers, through agents, through underwriters or underwriting syndicates led by one or more managing underwriters, to or through brokers or dealers or through a combination of any of these methods.

        The prospectus supplement will set forth the terms of the offering and the method of distribution and will include the following information:

•

the names of any underwriters or agents;



•

the purchase price of the securities from us;



•

the net proceeds to us from the sale of the securities;



•

any over-allotment options under which underwriters may purchase additional securities from us;



•

any underwriting discounts, commissions and other items constituting compensation to underwriters, dealers or agents;



•

any public offering price;



•

any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers;



•

any commissions paid to agents; and



•

any securities exchange or market on which the securities offered in the prospectus supplement may be listed.

Sales Through Agents

        We may sell the securities through agents we designate from time to time. Any such agent may be deemed to be an underwriter as that term is defined in the Securities Act. In the prospectus supplement, we will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of the offered securities, and we will describe any commissions payable by us to the agent. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement, these agents will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of their appointment.

Sales Through Underwriters or Dealers

        If we utilize any underwriters in the sale of securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered, we will enter into an underwriting agreement with those underwriters at the time of sale to them. We will set forth the names of those underwriters and the terms of the transaction in the prospectus supplement, which will be used by the underwriters to make resales of securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered to the public. The underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account, and the underwriters may resell the securities from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. Underwriters may offer securities to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more firms acting as underwriters. The obligations of the underwriters to purchase the securities will be subject to conditions, and any underwritten offering may be on a best efforts or a firm commitment basis. The underwriters may change from time to time any initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers.

        If we utilize a dealer in the sale of the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered, we will sell those securities to the dealer, as principal. The dealer may then resell those securities to the public at varying prices determined by the dealer at the time of resale. The dealers participating in any sale of the securities may be deemed to be underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act, with respect to any sale of those securities. We will include in the prospectus supplement the names of the dealers and the terms of the transaction.

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Direct Sales

        Securities may also be sold directly by us. In this case, no underwriters or agents would be involved. We may use electronic media, including the Internet, to sell offered securities directly.

General Information

        In connection with the sale of the securities, underwriters, dealers or agents may be deemed to have received compensation from us in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions and may also receive commissions from securities purchasers for whom they may act as agent. Underwriters may sell the securities to or through dealers, and the dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters or commissions from the purchasers for whom they may act as agent. We will provide in the applicable prospectus supplement information regarding any underwriting discounts or other compensation that we pay to underwriters or agents in connection with the securities offering, and any discounts, concessions or commissions which underwriters allow to dealers.

        We may have agreements with the agents, dealers and underwriters to indemnify them against certain civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute with respect to payments that the agents, dealers or underwriters may be required to make because of those liabilities. Agents, dealers and underwriters, or their affiliates or associates, may be customers of, engage in transactions with or perform services for us in the ordinary course of their businesses.

        Other than the common units, which are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, each series of offered securities will have no established trading market. We may elect to list any series of offered securities on an exchange, but we are not obligated to do so. It is possible that one or more underwriters may make a market in a series of offered securities. However, they will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue market making at any time without notice. We cannot assure you as to the liquidity of, or the trading market for, any of our offered securities.

        In connection with offerings of securities under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and in compliance with applicable law, certain persons participating in the offering make a market in the securities or engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the offered securities. This may include, among other transactions, over-allotments or short sales of the securities, which involves the sale by persons participating in the offering of more securities than we sold to them. In these circumstances, these persons would cover such over-allotments or short positions by making purchases in the open market or by exercising their over-allotment option. For the purpose of covering a syndicate short position or stabilizing the price of the securities, the underwriters, brokers or dealers may place bids for the securities or effect purchases of the securities in the open market. Finally, the underwriters may impose a penalty whereby selling concessions allowed to syndicate members or other brokers or dealers for distribution of the securities in offerings may be reclaimed by the syndicate if the syndicate repurchases previously distributed securities in transactions to cover short positions, in stabilization transactions or otherwise. These activities may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the securities, which may be higher than the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market, and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

        Because FINRA views our common units as interests in a direct participation program, any offering of common units pursuant to this registration statement will be made in compliance with FINRA Rule 2310.

        To the extent required, this prospectus may be amended or supplemented from time to time to describe a specific plan of distribution. The place and time of delivery for the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered are set forth in the accompanying prospectus supplement.

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LEGAL MATTERS

        The validity of the securities offered in this prospectus will be passed upon for us by Baker Botts L.L.P., Dallas, Texas. Baker Botts L.L.P. will also render an opinion on the material federal income tax considerations regarding the securities. If certain legal matters in connection with an offering of the securities made by this prospectus and a related prospectus supplement are passed on by counsel for the underwriters of such offering, that counsel will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement related to that offering.

EXPERTS

        The consolidated financial statements of Crosstex Energy, L.P. as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2012, and management's assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012 have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

        The consolidated financial statements of Clearfield Energy, Inc. as of and for the year ended March 31, 2012 have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the report of Kreischer Miller, independent auditor, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

        We have filed a registration statement with the SEC under the Securities Act that registers the securities offered by this prospectus. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits, contains additional relevant information about us. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit some information included in the registration statement from this prospectus.

        In addition, we file annual, quarterly and other reports and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC's public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-732-0330 for further information on the operation of the SEC's public reference room. Our SEC filings are available on the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov. We also make available free of charge on our website at http://www.crosstexenergy.com all materials that we file electronically with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, Section 16 reports and amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Information contained on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and does not constitute a part of this prospectus.

        The SEC allows us to "incorporate by reference" the information we have filed with the SEC. This means that we can disclose important information to you without actually including the specific information in this prospectus by referring you to other documents filed separately with the SEC. These other documents contain important information about us, our financial condition and results of operations. The information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus. Information that we file later with the SEC will automatically update and may replace information in this prospectus and information previously filed with the SEC.

        We incorporate by reference in this prospectus the documents listed below and any subsequent filings we make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act

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of 1934 (excluding information deemed to be furnished and not filed with the SEC) until all offerings under this registration statement are completed:

•

our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012;



•

our current reports on Form 8-K filed on January 10, 2013, January 29, 2013, March 1, 2013 and March 6, 2013, respectively (in each case to the extent filed and not furnished);



•

the audited historical financial statements of Clearfield Energy, Inc., and its subsidiaries included in Item 9.01(a) of our amended current report on Form 8-K/A filed on August 1, 2012; and



•

the description of our common units in our registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 000-50067) filed pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on November 4, 2002.

        You may obtain any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus from the SEC through the SEC's web site at the address provided above. You also may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus (including exhibits to those documents specifically incorporated by reference in those documents), at no cost, by visiting our internet website at www.crosstexenergy.com, or by writing or calling us at the following address:

Crosstex Energy, L.P.
2501 Cedar Springs
Dallas, Texas 75201
Attention: Investor Relations
Telephone: (214) 953-9500

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PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 14.    Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

        Set forth below are the expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions) expected to be incurred in connection with the issuance and distribution of the securities registered hereby. With the exception of the Securities and Exchange Commission registration fee, the amounts set forth below are estimates:

Item 15.    Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Crosstex Energy, L.P.

        Subject to any standards or restrictions set forth in a partnership agreement, Section 17-108 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act empowers a Delaware limited partnership to indemnify and hold harmless any partner or other persons from and against all claims and demands whatsoever.

        The partnership agreement of Crosstex Energy, L.P. provides that Crosstex Energy, L.P. will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, indemnify and hold harmless (i) the general partner, (ii) any departing general partner, (iii) any person who is or was an affiliate of the general partner or any departing general partner, (iv) any person who is or was a member, partner, officer, director, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of any Group Member (as defined in the partnership agreement), the general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of any Group Member, the general partner or any departing general partner or (v) any person who is or was serving at the request of the general partner or any departing general partner or any affiliate of the general partner or any departing general partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person (each, an "Indemnitee") from and against any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, in which any Indemnitee may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, by reason of its status as an Indemnitee; provided that in each case the Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner that such Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in, or (in the case of a person other than the general partner) not opposed to, the best interests of Crosstex Energy, L.P. and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe its conduct was unlawful.

        Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of the assets of Crosstex Energy, L.P., and the general partner shall not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or loan

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any monies or property to Crosstex Energy, L.P. to enable it to effectuate, such indemnification. Crosstex Energy, L.P. may purchase (or reimburse the general partner or its affiliates for the cost of) insurance, on behalf of the general partner, its affiliates and such other persons as the general partner shall determine, against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by such persons in connection with Crosstex Energy, L.P.'s activities, regardless of whether Crosstex Energy, L.P. would have the power to indemnify such person against liabilities under the partnership agreement.

        The general partner has entered into indemnification agreements (the "Indemnification Agreements") with its directors and executive officers (collectively, the "Executive Indemnitees"), who serve as directors and officers on behalf of Crosstex Energy, L.P. Under the terms of the Indemnification Agreements, the general partner has agreed to indemnify each Executive Indemnitee, subject to certain conditions, (i) against all expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such Executive Indemnitee or on his or her behalf if such person is, by reason of his or her status as a director and/or officer of the general partner or a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise with which such person was serving at the request of the general partner (any such status being referred to as a "Corporate Status"), made or threatened to be made a party to or otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, arbitrative or investigative, any appeal in such an action, suit or proceeding, and any inquiry or investigation that could lead to such an action, suit or proceeding irrespective of the initiator thereof (each, a "Proceeding") or any claim, issue or matter therein, other than a Proceeding by or in the right of the general partner; (ii) if such person is, by reason of his or her Corporate Status, made or threatened to be made a party to or otherwise involved in any Proceeding brought by or in the right of the general partner to procure a judgment in its favor, except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter in such Proceeding as to which such Executive Indemnitee shall have been adjudged to be liable to the general partner, unless and only to the extent that a court shall otherwise determine; (iii) against all expenses actually and reasonably incurred by such person or on his or her behalf in connection with any such Proceeding for which such Executive Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification pursuant to (i) or (ii) in which the Executive Indemnitee is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of such Proceeding; (iv) against expenses actually and reasonably incurred by such person or on his or her behalf in connection with a Proceeding to the extent that such Executive Indemnitee is, by reason of his or her Corporate Status, a witness in any Proceeding to which such person is not a party; (v) against costs or expenses (including attorneys' fees and disbursements) incurred by the Executive Indemnitee in cooperating with any person, persons or entity determining whether the Executive Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification; and (vi) against any and all expenses actually and reasonably incurred by such Executive Indemnitee in any judicial adjudication of his or her rights under the Indemnification Agreements, but only if (and only to the extent) he or she prevails therein. To the extent that a change in the laws of the State of Delaware permits greater indemnification or advancement of expenses than would be afforded under the Indemnification Agreements as of the date of the Indemnification Agreements, the Executive Indemnitee shall enjoy the greater benefits so afforded by such change.

        In addition, under the terms of the Indemnification Agreements, the general partner has agreed to pay all reasonable expenses incurred by an Executive Indemnitee in connection with any Proceeding pursuant to (i) or (ii) above in advance of the final disposition of such Proceeding no later than 10 days after receipt by the general partner of an undertaking by or on behalf of the Executive Indemnitee to repay such amount to the extent that it is ultimately determined that the Executive Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the general partner.

        The Indemnification Agreements also include provisions that specify the procedures and presumptions that are to be employed to determine whether an Executive Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification thereunder. In some cases, the nature of the procedures specified in the

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Indemnification Agreements varies depending on whether there has occurred a "Change in Control" (as defined in the Indemnification Agreements) of the general partner.

Crosstex Energy GP, LLC

        Additionally, Section 18-108 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act empowers a Delaware limited liability company to indemnify and hold harmless any member or manager or other person from and against all claims and demands whatsoever. Section 7.01(a) of the Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of the general partner (the "Company Agreement") provides that to the fullest extent permitted by law, (a) any Person who is or was an affiliate of the general partner, (b) any Person who is or was a member, partner officer, director, employee, agent or trustee of the general partner or any affiliate of the general partner and (c) any Person who is or was serving at the request of the general partner or any affiliate of the general partner as an officer, director, employee, member, partner, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another Person (collectively the "Company Indemnitees"), shall be indemnified and held harmless by the general partner, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, in which any Company Indemnitee may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, by reason of its status as a Company Indemnitee; provided, that in each case the Company Indemnitee acted in good faith, in a manner that such Company Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the general partner and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe its conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction or upon plea of nolo contendere, or its equivalent, shall not create a presumption that the Company Indemnitee acted in a manner contrary to that specified above. Any indemnification pursuant to Section 7.01 of the Company Agreement shall be made only out of the assets of the general partner.

        Section 7.01(b) of the Company Agreement also states that to the fullest extent permitted by law, expenses (including legal fees and expenses) incurred by a Company Indemnitee who is indemnified pursuant to Section 7.01(a) in defending any claim, demand, action, suit or proceeding shall, from time to time, be advanced by the general partner prior to the final disposition of such claim, demand, action, suit or proceeding upon receipt by the general partner of an undertaking by or on behalf of the Company Indemnitee to repay such amount if it shall be determined that the Company Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified as authorized by the Company Agreement.

        Section 7.02(a) of the Company Agreement provides that no Company Indemnitee shall be liable for monetary damages to the general partner or any other Persons who have acquired membership interests in the general partner, for losses sustained or liabilities incurred as a result of any act or omission if such Company Indemnitee acted in good faith.

Crosstex Energy Finance Corp.

        Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, inter alia, empowers a Delaware corporation to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if he acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful. Similar indemnity is authorized for such

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persons against expenses (including attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of any such threatened, pending or completed action or suit if such person acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and provided further that (unless a court of competent jurisdiction otherwise provides) such person shall not have been adjudged liable to the corporation. Any such indemnification may be made only as authorized in each specific case upon a determination that the present or former director, officer, employee or agent has met the applicable standard of conduct and, in the case of a person who is a director or officer of the corporation at the time of such determination, such determination shall be made by the stockholders or disinterested directors or by independent legal counsel in a written opinion that indemnification is proper.

        Section 145 further authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise, against any liability asserted against him and incurred by him in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the corporation would otherwise have the power to indemnify him under Section 145. Also, Article VI of the bylaws of Crosstex Energy Finance Corporation provides for the indemnification of directors and officers of the company and those persons who serve at the request of the company as directors, officers, employees or agents of any other enterprise against certain liabilities under certain circumstances.

        Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling our company as set forth above, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

        Any underwriting agreement entered into in connection with the sale of the securities offered pursuant to this registration statement will provide for the indemnification of officers, directors, members or managers of the registrants and any general partner, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 16.    Exhibits.

(a)

Exhibits.    The following documents are filed as exhibits to this Registration Statement:

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Item 17.    Undertakings.

           I.  Each of the undersigned registrants hereby undertakes:

        (a)   To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

          (i)  To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

         (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the effective registration statement; and

        (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) above do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-3 and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrants pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement.

        (b)   That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the

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securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        (c)   To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

        II.    That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

        (a)   Each prospectus filed by the registrants pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and

        (b)   Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.

        III.  That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, each undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

        (a)   Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

        (b)   Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

        (c)   The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

        (d)   Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

        IV.   Each undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new

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registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        V.     Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of any registrant pursuant to the provisions described in Item 15 above, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, each registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

        VI.  The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to file an application for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the trustee to act under subsection (a) of section 310 of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the "Act"), in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the SEC under section 305(b)(2) of the Act.

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SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, each of the registrants certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Dallas, State of Texas, on April 19, 2013.

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POWER OF ATTORNEY

        Each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Barry E. Davis, Michael J. Garberding and Joe A. Davis, and each of them, any of whom may act without the joinder of the other, as his lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power or substitution and resubstitution for him in any and all capacities, to sign any or all amendments or post-effective amendments to this registration statement, or any registration statement for the same offering that is to be effective upon filing pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to file the same, with exhibits hereto and other documents in connection therewith or in connection with the registration of the securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with the SEC, granting unto such attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary in connection with such matters and hereby ratifying and confirming all that such attorneys-in-fact and agents or his substitutes may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated below.

CROSSTEX ENERGY GP, LLC, as the general partner of CROSSTEX ENERGY, L.P.

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CROSSTEX ENERGY FINANCE CORPORATION

CROSSTEX OPERATING GP, LLC, on behalf of itself and as the general partner of CROSSTEX ENERGY SERVICES, L.P.

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CROSSTEX ENERGY SERVICES GP, LLC, on behalf of itself and as the general partner of
CROSSTEX GULF COAST MARKETING LTD., CROSSTEX CCNG PROCESSING LTD.,
CROSSTEX NORTH TEXAS PIPELINE, L.P., CROSSTEX NORTH TEXAS GATHERING, L.P.,
CROSSTEX NGL MARKETING, L.P. and CROSSTEX NGL PIPELINE, L.P.

CROSSTEX LIG LIQUIDS, LLC, CROSSTEX PERMIAN, LLC, CROSSTEX PERMIAN II, LLC, CROSSTEX ORV HOLDINGS, INC., WEST VIRGINIA OIL GATHERING, LLC, APPALACHIAN OIL PURCHASERS, LLC, KENTUCKY OIL GATHERING, LLC, OHIO OIL GATHERING II, LLC, OHIO OIL GATHERING III, LLC, OOGC DISPOSAL COMPANY I, LLC, M & B GAS SERVICES, LLC, CROSSTEX CRUDE MARKETING, LLC and CROSSTEX TEXAS NGL PIPELINE, LLC

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CROSSTEX PROCESSING SERVICES, LLC, on behalf of itself and as general partner of SABINE PASS PLANT FACILITY JOINT VENTURE

CROSSTEX PELICAN, LLC, on behalf of itself and as general partner of SABINE PASS PLANT FACILITY JOINT VENTURE

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

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