By Varun Sahay
April 22 (Reuters) – Kinder Morgan exceeded Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the pipeline operator benefited from increased U.S. natural gas demand driven by the Middle East conflict and data center expansion.
U.S. pipeline companies are benefiting from robust oil and gas output in the Permian Basin, with ongoing uncertainty about ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz leading to a greater preference for U.S.-sourced LNG.
“The geopolitical landscape became even more turbulent this quarter, with conflict in the Middle East joining the ongoing war in Ukraine as a source of significant commodity price volatility,” Executive Chairman Richard Kinder said.
The company said the Middle East conflict also curbs competing LNG supply boosting the longer-term consumption outlook. It expects total U.S. gas demand to reach 150 billion cubic feet per day by 2031, up about 27% from this year.
Kinder, which is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, also said it has agreed to acquire Monument Pipeline, a 225-mile natural gas pipeline system serving Houston and nearby markets, for $505 million in cash.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Kinder forecast 2026 net income attributable to the company to be flat at $3.1 billion, while adjusted earnings per share are expected to rise 5% to $1.36.
The company also expects adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 billion for this year.
The Houston, Texas-based firm posted an adjusted profit of 48 cents per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ estimate of 40 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The first‑quarter revenue was $4.83 billion, topping analysts’ expectations of $4.6 billion.
Kinder said it transported about 49,475 billion British thermal units of natural gas per day in the quarter, compared with 45,978 billion Btu per day a year ago.
However, its total delivery volumes, which also include refined products such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, fell to 1,965 thousand barrels per day during the quarter, from 2,047 thousand bpd a year ago.
(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Maju Samuel)
Comments