Kinder Morgan to sell 50% stake in $500m Utopia pipeline project

Kinder Morgan (KMI) has announced the sale of a 50% stake in the $500m Utopia pipeline project to US-based private equity firm Riverstone Investment Group.

In addition to acquiring the existing assets, Riverstone will also fund its share of future capital expenditures that are needed to complete construction and commissioning of the project.

The Utopia pipeline project stretches from Harrison County to Fulton County and will include about 215 miles of new, 12-inch diameter pipeline that is planned to be built entirely within the state of Ohio in the US.

KMI natural gas liquids president Don Lindley said: "The Utopia pipeline will connect growing ethane supply sources in Ohio to the expanding petrochemical market in Sarnia.

"We are excited to welcome Riverstone as a partner in the Utopia project."

Connecting with an existing KMI pipeline and associated facilities, the pipeline will transport ethane and ethane-propane mixtures to petrochemical companies operating in Ontario, Canada.

Riverstone Investment Group partner Baran Tekkora said: "The principals of Kinder Morgan and Riverstone have a long history of working together and we are happy to be partners again.

"We look forward to Utopia being a successful project and believe it will lead to other strategic partnerships on future projects."

KMI operates approximately 84,000 miles of pipelines and about 180 terminals. The company’s pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO₂ and other products.