Kinder Morgan

Beginnings

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) was founded in 1997 when a group of investors acquired the general partner of a small, publicly traded pipeline limited partnership (Enron Liquids Pipeline, L.P.) later renamed Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. Its cofounder Rich Kinder had been the president of Enron. After Kinder was denied an expected promotion to replace Kenneth Lay as chief executive officer, he departed the company, purchasing its interest in ELP for $40 million. Later that year, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners acquired Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline Partners.

In 1999, Kinder Morgan conducted a reverse merger with KN Energy, a utility and pipeline company. Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), which serves the Chicago market, was acquired through this deal. KN Energy became Kinder Morgan's second publicly traded company, Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI).

In 2001, Kinder Morgan's third publicly traded company, Kinder Morgan Management, LLC (KMR) was formed to facilitate institutional ownership of KMP equity.

Leveraged buyout

On August 28, 2006, Kinder Morgan announced that it would be taken private in a management-led leveraged buyout totaling approximately $22 billion. Outside participants in the transaction include Fayez Sarofim, Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Highstar Capital (then owned by AIG). In 2007, Kinder Morgan sold KN Energy to General Electric Co. and Alinda Capital Partners, which renamed the company SourceGas.

KMI began trading again on the NYSE on February 11, 2011, following the largest private-equity backed IPO offering in US history.

Subsequent events

In October 2011, Kinder Morgan Inc. agreed to buy El Paso Corp. for $21.1 billion and gave the combined company 67,000 miles (108,000 km) of gas lines, eclipsing Enterprise Products Partners LP as the biggest US pipeline operator. The transaction was paid for with shares of Kinder Morgan, Kinder Morgan warrants, and a cash portion of $11.5 billion through Barclays borrowing.

On August 10, 2014, Kinder announced it was moving to full ownership of its partially owned subsidiaries Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Kinder Morgan Management, and El Paso Pipeline Partners in a deal worth $71 billion. The transaction closed on November 26, 2014. Prior to November 26, 2014, the Kinder Morgan group publicly traded companies included Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP), Kinder Morgan Management, LLC (NYSE: KMR) and El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB); a merger transaction combined all under Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), on November 26, 2014.

American Petroleum Tankers

On December 23, 2013, Kinder Morgan announced that, through its Kinder Morgan Energy partner subsidiary, it would acquire the US oil tanker operator American Petroleum Tankers and its affiliated company SCT (State Class Tankers) from the US private equity investment firms Blackstone Group and Cerberus Capital Management. APT operates a fleet of five US-flagged MR 50,000 tons—330,000 barrels—oil tankers and has four other similar tankers on order from the General Dynamics shipbuilding company NASSCO in California. This acquisition appears to be the first case whereby a pipeline operator will also be able to offer marine transportation.

Controversies

Safety violations

In 2009, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) cited Kinder Morgan for violating safety standards regarding the distance between a natural gas pipeline and a "high consequence area" such as a school or hospital; the pipeline was too close for safe operation in case of a leak.

In 2011, PHMSA cited Kinder Morgan for failing to maintain update maps showing pipeline locations, test pipeline safety devices, maintain firefighting equipment, inspect its pipelines as required, and adequately monitor pipes’ corrosion levels. Also in 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation cited Kinder Morgan for violations including the company's failure to have and follow written startup and shutdown procedures, and failing to have or use other measures to detect abnormal operating conditions, and proposed a fine of $425,000.

The 2013 Wall Street Journal article "Is Kinder Morgan Scrimping on its Pipelines?" noted that one investment analyst claimed the company was deferring maintenance spending in order to return more cash to its investors.

PHMSA's incident reports for Kinder Morgan's onshore gas transmission pipelines show that faulty infrastructure causes 45% of the significant leaks. Failure of the pipe, cracked welds, and faulty pipeline equipment together account for 28% of pipeline leaks, and corrosion of the pipe causes 17%.

Accidents

In Texas from 2003 to 2016, Kinder Morgan experienced at least 48 "significant incidents" resulting in fatalities or hospitalization, fires, explosions, or spills. Throughout the U.S. from 2003 to 2016, Kinder Morgan and its subsidiaries' pipelines (of all kinds) were responsible for more than 400 incidents in 24 states, incurring more than 110 federal enforcement actions. Kinder Morgan's natural gas transmission pipeline accidents caused $224 million in property damage.

In July 2007, a Kinder Morgan pipeline got ripped open by an excavator, spilling more than 250,000 liters of oil into a Burnaby neighborhood and 70,000 liters into nearby Burrard Inlet. The crude oil utterly carpeted cars, houses, roads, and lawns. About 250 people had to be evacuated and the spill cost $15 million to clean.