Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and Copano Energy,
L.L.C. (Nasdaq: CPNO) today announced that they have entered into formal
agreements for Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50/50 joint venture to
provide gathering, transportation and processing services to natural gas
producers in the Eagle Ford Shale resource play in South Texas. The
companies previously announced a letter of intent for the joint venture
on Nov. 13, 2009.
"This project builds on the long-standing partnership between Copano and
Kinder Morgan to capitalize on the strong and growing demand in South
Texas," said Bruce Northcutt, Copano Energy's president and chief
executive officer. "This new joint venture will provide producers in the
western Eagle Ford Shale a new, fully integrated midstream alternative
for their gathering, transportation, processing and fractionation needs,
including access to multiple residue gas markets."
"Kinder Morgan is happy to be expanding its commercial alliance with
Copano and looks forward to providing producers a timely solution for
their growing Eagle Ford gas volumes through the new joint venture,"
said Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan's Texas Intrastate Gas
Pipelines.
Due to the high level of interest expressed by producers, Kinder Morgan
and Copano have each increased their committed capacity from 150,000 to
375,000 MMBtu per day to Eagle Ford Gathering for transportation on
Kinder Morgan's Laredo-to-Katy pipeline and processing at Copano's
Houston Central processing plant. Additionally, the joint venture
expects the first phase of construction to significantly extend beyond
the original 22 miles previously announced.
In connection with the execution of the joint venture agreements, Copano
and Kinder Morgan also amended and extended their existing straddle
processing agreement and transportation agreement through the end of
2024. Representatives of Eagle Ford Gathering have been in negotiations
with multiple producers regarding potential contracts for gathering,
transportation and processing services. Copano will serve as operator
and managing member of Eagle Ford Gathering.
About Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is a leading pipeline transportation
and energy storage company in North America. KMP owns an interest in or
operates approximately 28,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals. Its
pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other
products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and
handle bulk materials like coal and petroleum coke. KMP is also the
leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in North
America. One of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited
partnerships in America, KMP has an enterprise value of approximately
$30 billion. The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc.,
a private company. For more information please visit www.kindermorgan.com.
About Copano Energy, L.L.C.
Houston-based Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) is a midstream
natural gas company with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and
Louisiana. Its assets include approximately 6,400 miles of active
natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 250 miles of NGL
pipelines and eight natural gas processing plants, with over one Bcf per
day of combined processing capacity. For more information please visit www.copanoenergy.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements. Although
Kinder Morgan and Copano Energy believe that their expectations are
based on reasonable assumptions, they can give no assurance that such
assumptions will materialize or that the proposed transactions will be
consummated. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements herein are
enumerated in Kinder Morgan's and Copano Energy's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
