KMI to acquire Monument natural gas system as first-quarter income jumps 36%
Key Highlights
- Kinder Morgan's net income increased by 36% year-over-year, reaching $976 million in Q1 2026.
- The company is acquiring Monument Pipeline for $505 million, enhancing its natural gas transportation network in Houston.
- Major projects like the Amarillo Expansion and LAHA Header Project are progressing to support growing demand in Texas and Louisiana.
Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) first-quarter 2026 net income totaled $976 million, up 36% year-over-year. The company is also acquiring Monument Pipeline—a 225-mile natural gas network in the Houston area—and announced the retirement of chief operating officer (COO) James Holland.
“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 D. Kinder. “As a fee-based midstream energy company with highly creditworthy shippers, we are largely insulated from that volatility. Longer-term, these global conflicts highlight the benefits of securing LNG supplies from the US, 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.”
“For the quarter all of our business segments were well up, excluding certain items, versus first-quarter 2025. Our natural gas pipelines segment drove the bulk of that outperformance, benefiting from winter storm Fern and extended cold weather,” added chief executive officer Kim Dang.
Monument Pipeline provides transportation and storage services to gas utilities, LNG shippers, and industrial customers, supported by long-term take-or-pay contracts with a revenue-weighted average remaining term of roughly 9 years. The $505-million cash acquisition from ARM Energy Holdings is expected to close second-quarter 2026, subject to customary conditions.
KMI-affiliate Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America is advancing development of its 550-MMcfd Amarillo Expansion project, designed to support growing demand in the Texas Panhandle. The project will cost about $200 million is targeted to be in service third-quarter 2028.
Kinder Morgan has also begun work on its intrastate 750-MMcfd LAHA Header Project, with compression in Louisiana near the KinderHawk Field Services LLC gathering system, to provide firm transport service on a long-term demand charge basis. The roughly $100-million project is expected to be placed in service first-quarter 2027. KinderHawk provides gas gathering, treating, and dehydration services to producers in the Haynesville and Bossier shales in northwest Louisiana.
KMI is continuing construction of its 2-bcfd Trident Intrastate Pipeline, including pipe stringing and mainline welding activities across multiple counties in Texas. The roughly 219-mile, $1.8-billion project is designed to provide natural gas transportation service from Katy, Tex., to the industrial corridor near Port Arthur, Tex. The company expects to place the first phase in service first-quarter 2027, with the second phase following in fourth-quarter 2028.
After 35 years with Kinder Morgan, the last 6 years as COO, James Holland has announced his intent to retire effective Sept. 4, 2026. Ken Grubb, KMI vice-president and chief project officer since March 2025, will succeed Holland as COO. Grubb has had various roles during his more than 35-year career, including most recently COO of KMI’s natural gas pipeline business segment.
About the Author
Christopher E. Smith
Editor in Chief
Chris joined Oil & Gas Journal in 2005 as Pipeline Editor, having already worked for more than a decade in a variety of oil and gas industry analysis and reporting roles. He became editor-in-chief in 2019 and head of content in 2025.