Kinder Morgan sells 50 per cent stake in Utopia Pipeline project

Private equity funds around the world are looking to snap up oil and gas assets like the Kinder Morgan Utopia Pipeline project while gas and oil prices are low. Shale Gas Reporter photo.

Kinder Morgan to sell percentage to Riverstone Investment Group

June 28 (Reuters) – Kinder Morgan Inc said it had agreed to sell half its stake in the Utopia Pipeline, an Ohio pipeline project, to private equity firm Riverstone Investment Group LLC for an undisclosed amount.

Riverstone will make an upfront cash payment to Kinder Morgan, including reimbursement for 50 percent share of its previous capital expenditure on the $500 million project, the pipeline company said on Tuesday.

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The private equity firm will also fund its share of future capital expenditure needed to complete the construction and commissioning of the pipeline.

Kinder Morgan shares rose 2.6 percent to $17.86 in morning trading.

Private equity funds around the world, with a cash pile of around $1 trillion, are looking to snap up oil and gas assets made cheaper by the drop in oil prices.

The Utopia Pipeline project, which stretches from Harrison County to Fulton County, has a capacity of 50,000 barrels per day and became operational at the beginning of 2018.

The pipeline will connect to Kinder Morgan’s existing infrastructure that transports ethane and ethane-propane mixtures to Ontario, Canada.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian and Kirti Pandey)