Morgan

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s Kinder Morgan Cochin LLC unit has agreed with NOVA Chemicals Corp. to develop a 210-mile, 10-inch diameter products pipeline from the Utica Shale to Michigan, where it would feed Kinder’s Cochin Pipeline.

Shares/units of Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) were dinged Wednesday by a 26-year-old financial analyst in a report that blasted the company for allegedly short-changing maintenance spending in order to support shares/units. Management said such criticisms were raised and put to bed 10 years ago and that it is “one of the most transparent companies in America.”

As part of a “U.S. Century” fueled by global shale gas dominance, domestic natural gas prices will rise and volatility will return in the next three to five years, a JP Morgan executive told participants at the LDC Gas Forum Mid-Continent in Chicago Tuesday. Colin Fenton did add the caveat that the gas volatility will not be the same as global oil prices, however.

While the U.S. State Department stopped short of endorsing the U.S.-to-Mexico Sierrita Lateral Pipeline being proposed by Sierrita Gas Pipeline LLC, it said it has “no objections” to a presidential permit being issued for the project.

Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. said Monday it will market its Texas Panhandle oil and gas assets after having received unsolicited interest in the properties. A deal could garner $1 billion or more and would be “transformative” for the company, one analyst said.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) has signed a binding, 20-year firm transportation precedent agreement with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japanto ship 600,000 Dth/d of natural gas earmarked for the proposed Cameron LNG liquefaction facility in Hackberry, LA, which is slated to begin liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in the second half of 2017. Mitsubishi will serve as the foundation shipper for TGP’s Southwest Louisiana Supply Project, which is designed to provide transportation from various supply basins in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana to Cameron Interstate Pipeline, which connects directly to the Cameron LNG Terminal. Kinder does not own Cameron Interstate Pipeline or the Cameron LNG facility. Sempra Energy, Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. recently signed 20-year tolling capacity and joint venture agreements for the terminal (see Daily GPI, May 17). “TGP’s unique footprint, connecting key conventional and shale supply areas from the South Texas Eagle Ford to the Utica and Marcellus in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and access to the Haynesville Shale supply area and the Perryville Hub in Louisiana, makes our Southwest Louisiana Supply Project an ideal fit to serve the future supply needs of Mitsubishi Corp. and the planned Cameron LNG complex,” said TGP President Kimberly Watson.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) is holding a binding open season through May for capacity on the proposed 1,025-mile Freedom Pipeline LLC for transporting Permian Basin crude from Texas to refineries in both Southern and Northern California.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) has contracted with Methanex Corp. to support the construction of methanol storage capacity near its Geismar Liquids Terminal (GLT) in Geismar, LA, and will embark on a $58 million expansion of its chemical storage. KMP said it will invest about $58 million to build, own and operate the storage tanks and related infrastructure, including improvements to its existing dock at GLT. The assets will provide marine, rail and truck access in support of a 1 million tonne per year methanol production plant being relocated by Methanex from Chile. The terminal infrastructure is expected to be in service during the second half of 2014, coinciding with the anticipated startup of the relocated plant. Separately, KMP has also acquired Quality Carriers Inc.’s 26-acre terminal located in Chester, SC. The 19-tank facility currently provides storage for a single customer of 35,000 bbl and receives product by rail and distributes by truck.

El Paso Natural Gas, a Kinder Morgan pipeline, has asked FERC for authorization to place the remaining portions of the expansion of its Willcox Lateral into service. The pipeline will make more natural gas available for delivery to power plants in northern Mexico.