April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher volumes of natural gas transported through its pipelines.
U.S. pipeline companies such as Kinder Morgan are gaining from booming oil and gas output in the Permian Basin, alongside growing natural gas demand fueled by record LNG exports and surging electricity use from AI-driven operations, cryptocurrency mining and data centers.
U.S. natural gas futures averaged
$9.54 per million British thermal units (Btu) in the January-March quarter, up 9.5% from last year. Natgas prices were supported by a surge in spot prices during Winter Storm Fern early in the quarter.
"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," said Executive Chairman Richard Kinder.
"Longer-term, these global conflicts highlight the benefits of securing liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from the United States, driving incremental demand for the services we provide those shippers. And apart from geopolitics, projections for domestic natural gas demand growth, particularly in the power sector, continue to be robust," he added.
The company 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.
Kinder Morgan, one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, operates about 79,000 miles of pipelines.
The company 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.
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.
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)
