Kinder Morgan advancing cautious natural gas growth strategy amid market signals

摘要

Kinder Morgan’s profit jump during the final three months of 2019 was bolstered by strong natural gas volumes thanks in part to the commercial startup of a new Permian pipeline, shipments beginning from its liquefaction terminal in Georgia and the sale of non-core US and Canadian assets, the company said Wednesday. The financial results were released as the company, which moves more than a third of the gas consumed in the US, stuck to its target to spend less money this year on expansion projects than it did in 2019. It will focus on growth from LNG and deliveries across Texas and into Mexico. It maintained current timelines on several key projects that are already underway. The play-it-safe approach reflects the current market dynamics across the sector. If weak gas prices dampen sentiment among some producers, that could impact utilization of midstream infrastructure and investment in new opportunities. In the weeks ahead as other operators of pipelines, processing plants and liquefaction facilities release fourth-quarter results, the market will learn how big that impact may be.