Kinder Morgan Energy Partners Increases Quarterly Distribution To $1.26 Per Unit

Oil production at the SACROC Unit increased to 30 MBbl/d in the third quarter, up 2 percent from the same period last year and 6 percent from the second quarter this year, and well above plan. Production continued to be relatively stable at the Yates Field, which produced 20.6 MBbl/d in the third quarter, about a 4 percent decline compared to the same period last year and flat versus the second quarter this year, and slightly below plan. Production at the Katz Field was 1.8 MBbl/d in the third quarter, up significantly from 0.5 MBbl/d for the same period last year, but flat with the second quarter this year and well below plan. The average West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price for the third quarter was $92.25 per barrel compared to a budgeted projection of $93.60 for the same period.

This segment is an area where KMP is exposed to commodity price risk, but that risk is partially mitigated by a long-term hedging strategy intended to generate more stable realized prices. The realized weighted average oil price per barrel for the quarter, with all hedges allocated to oil, was $88.64 versus $70.43 for the third quarter of 2011. The realized weighted average NGL price per barrel for the second quarter, allocating none of the hedges to NGLs, was $44.27 compared to $68.86 for the same period last year.

The Terminals business produced third quarter segment earnings before DD&A and certain items of $184 million, up 2 percent from $181 million for the comparable period in 2011, and is currently expected to meet its published annual budget of 8 percent growth. Growth for the quarter was evenly distributed among organic sources and acquisitions.

“Internal growth in this segment was led again by strong export coal volumes across our terminal network, including new shipments at our Houston bulk terminals,” Kinder said. Export coal volumes increased by 32 percent (up 1.2 million tons) compared to the third quarter of 2011, while overall coal throughput declined by 8 percent. For the first nine months of this year, export coal volumes increased by 45 percent (up 4.9 million tons) versus 2011, and overall coal throughput is up 2 percent.

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