Kinder Morgan added $5.4 billion of new projects in Q3, bringing its backlog to a record $14.4 billion. CEO Kim Dang said gas buyers, not producers, are behind the new work: “All the projects we’re sanctioning today are demand pull, and that is our preference when we do these projects, because basins can come and go to some extent. Now some of them have been there for a long time, but the demand pull, it is there for decades.” She added that the new deals will lead to more: “As a result of getting these signed up… it will create bottlenecks in other places that we will have to alleviate that will lead to more projects.”
Kinder Morgan reached a final investment decision on Permian Link (pictured below), a 2.8 Bcf/d pipeline being built through its NGPL joint venture with Brookfield. The line will move Permian gas from near Pecos County north to serve growing power demand in the Texas Panhandle, with service expected in Q4 2030. It is anchored by an A-rated data-center operator under a contract of at least 20 years, other customers are in talks, and capacity can be expanded with added compression. CFO David Michels said storage sets the project apart: “One of the benefits that Permian Link brings to the power markets… is the link to storage and the flexibility and reliability that helps these hyperscalers.”
Proposed Permian Link route and NGPL connections. Source: KMI
Kinder Morgan also sanctioned the Southeast Connector, built through its Southern Natural Gas joint venture with Southern Company, as large power-load requests in the Southeast top 200 GW. The project will deliver about 2.6 Bcf/d to Southeast utilities, expandable to 3.5 Bcf/d, coming online in phases from 2030 to 2032. Kinder Morgan is also lining up Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 219 South expansion (pictured below), which drew more than 2 Bcf/d of interest in a non-binding open season announced in July and largely from power projects along a corridor through Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. Sital Mody, president of natural gas pipelines, put the first phase at about $1.5 billion.
Proposed TGP expansion. Source: KMI
