UPDATE 1-Enterprise seeks interest for Marcellus ethane pipe

* Pipeline to move Marcellus/Utica shale ethane to US Gulf

* Ethane would have access to Gulf Coast petrochem plants

* Open commitment period ends Nov. 10

NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Enterprise Products Partners L.P. on Tuesday launched an open commitment season for a proposed ethane pipeline running from the Marcellus and Utica shale deposits to Mont Belvieu, Texas.

The pipeline would ship ethane from shale deposits in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the Texas ethane hub, where it would have direct or indirect access to every ethylene plant in the United States, the company said in a statement.

Ethane is primarily used to produce ethylene, a feedstock in plastics manufacturing.

The approximately 1,230-mile (1,980 km) pipeline, expected to begin commercial operation in first-quarter 2014, would have an initial capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, but could be expanded to meet increased demand, the company said.

The binding commitment period runs from Tuesday through November 10, 2011.

"For more than a year, we have been working with producers in the Marcellus shale play, and more recently the Utica shale, to address the growing logistical needs to transport their ethane production and facilitate natural gas production from this liquids-rich region," A.J. Teague, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Enterprise's general partner, said in a release.

The project would include new and existing infrastructure, including reversing an existing 16-inch diameter TE Products Pipeline that runs from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to the Gulf Coast region.

Royal Dutch Shell said in June that the company was developing plans to build a world-scale ethylene cracker with integrated derivative units in the U.S. Appalachian region in order to process ethane from Marcellus natural gas to produce ethylene.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is a provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals.