Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Kinder Morgan
Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ:
CPNO), today announced the execution of two long-term agreements to
provide transportation, processing and fractionation services to
Petrohawk Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: HK) and Rosetta Resources
Operating LP, an affiliate of Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) two
of the leading operators in the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas.
Eagle Ford Gathering has contracted with Petrohawk for up to 50,000
MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production from leases in
LaSalle and McMullen Counties, Texas, and with Rosetta for up to 50,000
MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production from leases in
Webb and Dimmit Counties, Texas. Each agreement has an approximate term
of 10 years.
Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan's Intrastate Pipeline Group,
said, "With the addition of these two agreements, the joint venture has
contracted for a total of 550,000 MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale
natural gas production. There continues to be strong interest from
producers for additional capacity, and the joint venture is evaluating
projects to expand its ability to handle natural gas from the Eagle Ford
Shale play."
"We are pleased to add Petrohawk and Rosetta to the growing number of
producers who have selected Eagle Ford Gathering as a midstream
provider," said Jim Wade, President and Chief Operating Officer of
Copano Energy's Texas segment.
Eagle Ford Gathering's previously announced 30-inch pipeline in the
western Eagle Ford Shale play is under construction and is expected to
begin service in the third quarter of 2011. After fully subscribing its
initial processing capacity of 375,000 MMBtu per day at Copano's Houston
Central plant, the joint venture recently announced plans to construct
72 miles of additional pipelines and associated compression that will
enable the joint venture to deliver Eagle Ford production to Formosa
Hydrocarbons Company's Point Comfort Plant and Williams Field Services'
Markham Plant for processing. These incremental pipelines and
facilities, which are expected to be completed by year end, will enable
the joint venture to more fully utilize the 600 MMcf per day capacity of
its 30-inch line.
About Kinder Morgan Energy Partners
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) is a leading pipeline
transportation and energy storage company in North America. KMP owns an
interest in or operates more than 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 such products as ethanol, coal, petroleum coke and
steel. 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 over $33
billion. The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc.
(NYSE: KMI). Combined, KMI and KMP have an enterprise value of
approximately $55 billion. For more information please visit http://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 ten natural gas processing plants, with over one Bcf per
day of combined processing capacity and 22,000 barrels per day of
fractionation capacity. For more information please visit http://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 in this release
include: the impact of inflation on project costs and the availability
of required resources; the effects on the project schedule, project
costs, or both, of numerous regulatory, environmental, political, legal
and operational uncertainties; the impact on volumes and resulting cash
flow of technological, economic and other uncertainties inherent in
estimating future production and producers' ability to drill and
successfully complete and attach new natural gas supplies, and the
availability of downstream transportation systems and other facilities
for natural gas and NGLs. These and other risks and uncertainties are
described in the risk factors sections of Kinder Morgan's and Copano
Energy's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
