By Varun Sahay
Oct 21 (Reuters) - US pipeline operator Kinder Morgan said on Wednesday it has approved a total of $4.7 billion as its share of investments in two major natural gas pipeline joint ventures, citing rising demand from power plants, data centers and LNG exporters.
The projects helped lift Kinder Morgan's natural-gas project backlog to a record level, underscoring the industry's efforts to expand infrastructure to serve the new demand.
Shares of the company rose 2.7% in extended trading after
it also beat estimates for quarterly profits.
Kinder Morgan would invest about $3.1 billion in Southern Natural Gas' Southeast Connector project and $1.6 billion in Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America's (NGPL) Permian Link project.
The Southeast Connector project would transport up to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas through about 470 miles of new pipeline to growing markets in the US Southeast.
The Permian Link is designed to transport roughly 2.8 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Permian Basin near Pecos County, Texas, to NGPL's Midcontinent system through about 434 miles of new pipeline.
The approvals lifted Kinder Morgan's project backlog to $14.4 billion, including a record $13.2 billion of natural gas projects.
Permian Link will supply gas to power providers serving an investment-grade hyperscale data-center customer, Kinder Morgan said. Executives said on an earnings call that the project had drawn interest from customers beyond the anchor hyperscaler.
The Permian Link is expected to enter service in the third quarter of 2030, while Southeast Connector is expected to start in phases beginning in the fourth quarter of 2030.
The Houston, Texas-based firm posted an adjusted profit of 35 cents per share for the three months ended September 30, compared with analysts' estimate of 32 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
