By Varun Sahay
July 22 (Reuters) – U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan raised its full-year outlook and beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, driven by higher natural gas volumes and rising power demand.
U.S. pipeline companies are gaining from booming oil and gas output in the Permian Basin and rising natural gas demand amid record LNG exports and surging electricity demand from AI operations, cryptocurrency mining and data centers.
Kinder Morgan, one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, now expects adjusted EBITDA 5% higher than what it had originally planned and adjusted earnings per share to be more than 12% higher.
The company said its project backlog stood at $9.6 billion at the end of the second quarter ended June 30, down $500 million sequentially.
On its post-earnings call, the pipeline operator said it expects to bring $1 billion of projects into service in the second half of 2026.
The company said the Gulf Coast Express expansion filled up quickly after launch, reflecting strong demand for pipelines to move gas out of the Permian Basin, and added that it was discussing additional takeaway options with customers.
U.S. natural gas prices in the Permian Basin remain under pressure as limited pipeline capacity lags production.
The Houston, Texas-based firm posted adjusted profit of 37 cents per share in the second quarter, up from 28 cents per share a year earlier and above analysts’ estimate of 32 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Quarterly revenue rose to $4.47 billion, topping analysts’ expectations of $4.23 billion. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $2.2 billion, compared with estimates of $2.05 billion.
The company said it transported about 47,886 billion British thermal units (Btu) of natural gas per day in the quarter, compared with 44,818 billion Btu per day in the year-ago period.
However, its total delivery volumes, which also include refined products such as jet fuel and diesel fuel, fell to 2.044 million barrels per day in the second quarter, from 2.213 million bpd a year ago.
(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara)
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