Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc. has agreed to sell three naturalgas gathering systems for nearly $21 million to WBI Holdings Inc., thenatural gas pipeline unit of MDU Resources Group Inc. The gatheringsystems in Montana, Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska include operationsthat were discontinued for divestiture last September as part ofKinder’s “back to basics” restructuring program (see NGI, Sept. 20, 1999).

MDU, headquartered in Bismarck, ND, will receive more than 1,000miles of gathering lines, 14,000 hp of compression and a naturalgas processing facility. Kinder’s divested assets include theBowdoin, Niobrara, and the Yenter Systems. They will be operated asa part of WBI Holdings’ pipeline and storage group and are allclose to existing systems operated by WBI. The acquisition isexpected to close later this month.

“Acquiring these assets will expand our gathering pipelinesystem in areas where we are already active, providing foradditional development and growth opportunities not only for ourpipeline operations but also for our energy marketing and naturalgas production lines of business,” said John K. Castleberry,president of WBI Holdings, Inc.

“Upon completion of this sale, our divestiture program will bemore than 90% complete,” said Richard Kinder, CEO. “Going forward,we will continue to concentrate on our midstream fee-basedbusinesses that produce stable earnings, have significant upsidepotential and minimize commodity price risk.”

Carolyn Davis, Houston

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