Kinder Morgan Eyes RNG, LNG Projects for Long-Term Growth

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Jet fuel fueled profits at Kinder Morgan Incorporated (NYSE:KMI) (Houston, Texas) in third-quarter 2022, as a surge in air travel contributed to a 16.4% profit increase from third-quarter 2021. But it's the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) where the company--which moves about half of the gas consumed by U.S. LNG export terminals--sees its strongest growth potential. Industrial Info is tracking more than $11.8 billion worth of active projects from Kinder Morgan, more than half of which is attributed to grassroot projects.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Kinder Morgan's active projects, by standard industrial classification.

Richard Kinder, the executive chairman of Kinder Morgan, said in a quarterly earnings-related conference call that his company expects domestic LNG export demand to more than double to 28 billion cubic feet per day by 2030: "Given the situation in Europe today, which will result in more long-term contracts and the continuing usage in Asia, this hyper-growth scenario actually seems pretty reasonable to me. That's a huge increase, and most of it will occur in Texas and Louisiana, where so much of our asset base is located."

Among the projects Kinder Morgan is proposing to address the growing export demand is the Evangeline Pass Expansion Project in Louisiana and Mississippi, which will bring an estimated 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, via additions, to two of Kinder Morgan's subsidiaries: Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company LLC and Southern Natural Gas Company LLC. The pipelines would provide Venture Global LNG Incorporated's (Arlington, Virginia) Plaquemines LNG export project in Cameron, Louisiana, with up to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Kinder Morgan notched up progress on several key aspects of the Evangeline Pass Expansion in the past six months, and it is nearing construction on two major segments: the 9.1-mile Yscloskey Toca Lateral in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and the 4.2-mile Grand Bayou Loop in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Each will transport up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas along Tennessee Gas Pipeline's existing mainline. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Project Database can read detailed project reports on the Yscloskey Toca Lateral, Grand Bayou Loop and Plaquemines LNG export project.

Other ongoing projects in the Evangeline Pass Expansion include two new compressor stations and several modifications to existing stations. Subscribers can click here for a list of related project reports.

Kinder Morgan also sees significant potential in renewable natural gas (RNG), for which it has acquired several smaller companies so far this year. It added RNG assets in August through its acquisition of North American Natural Resources, including several landfill-to-gas facilities it plans to convert to RNG facilities by 2024. Kinder Morgan also picked up three landfill assets from Mas CanAm LLC earlier this year.

Kinder Morgan is at work on three RNG projects at landfill sites across Indiana that it expects to complete in the coming months, each of which is valued at $48.5 million:

• the Twin Bridges site in Danville; see project report
• the Prairie View site in Wyatt; see project report
• the Liberty site in Monticello; see project report

As for jet fuel, Kinder Morgan is seeking permits to expand the biodiesel-blending system at its Colton South Terminal in Bloomington, California, which holds more than 1.2 million barrels of jet fuel, gasoline, diesel and ethanol. The higher-blend biodiesel system would increase blending capabilities from the existing up-to-5% limit to as much as 20%. If permits are approved as anticipated, Kinder Morgan expects the project to be placed in service in first-quarter 2023. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports on active projects from Kinder Morgan.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).