By Vallari Srivastava
(Reuters) – U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan said on Wednesday it remains bullish on growth in demand for natural gas driven by AI and data centers, even as it narrowly missed Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly profit.
The pipeline operator also said it is proceeding with the Trident Intrastate pipeline project, a 216-mile pipeline build that will provide about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of capacity from Katy, Texas, to the liquefied natural gas and industrial corridor near Port Arthur.
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Shares of the company were up 1.5% after the bell.
The project, announced just days after the U.S. President Donald Trump ended the moratorium on new LNG export permits, is expected to be in service in the first quarter of 2027.
“Between LNG exports to Mexico, power and industrial growth, our internal number for growth in the overall natural gas business is roughly 28 bcfd between now and 2030,” CEO Kim Dang said on a conference call with analysts.
Edward Jones analyst Nick Hummel noted that Kinder Morgan has a very big pipeline footprint, which enables it to capitalize on the growing demand for natural gas.
The company also expects to participate in growth opportunities stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s recently announced private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for AI, it said on the call.
“There’s a lot of folks that are going to be chasing (that) opportunity,” an executive added.
However, its fourth-quarter revenue fell to $3.99 billion, compared to $4.04 billion last year as it struggled with lower crude and condensate volumes transported through its pipelines, which were down about 5%.
Kinder Morgan’s adjusted profit came in at 32 cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, just below analysts’ estimates of 33 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
