Kinder Morgan reported $5.4 billion in new project additions during the quarter; after $700 million of projects entered service, its expansion-project backlog increased by $4.7 billion to $14.4 billion.
Published by Allstream Insiders
Allstream Insiders Summary
Kinder Morgan reported record third-quarter 2026 financial results and said it recorded $5.4 billion in new expansion-project additions during the quarter. After $700 million of projects were placed in service, the company said its expansion-project backlog increased by $4.7 billion from the second quarter of 2026 to $14.4 billion, including a $13.2 billion natural-gas project backlog that it described as the largest in its history.
The principal new developments are Southern Natural Gas Company’s, or SNG, Southeast Connector Project and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America’s, or NGPL, Permian Link Project. Kinder Morgan said both have reached final investment decision after securing long-term transportation commitments. The company reported that more than 75% of the total backlog is associated with projects supporting power generation and local-distribution-company demand.
Several other natural-gas, storage, gathering, refined-products and terminal projects were also updated. Reported costs, capacities and in-service dates remain subject to the qualifications stated by Kinder Morgan, including timely receipt and continued effectiveness of required permits and approvals.
Major projects that reached final investment decision
| Project | Status reported by Kinder Morgan | Key disclosed scope | Reported timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Connector | SNG reached final investment decision | Up to 2.6 Bcf/d; about 470 miles of new pipeline and new and expanded compression; KMI share of expected cost is $3.1 billion | Phased in-service beginning Q4 2030, subject to permits and approvals |
| Permian Link | NGPL reached final investment decision | About 2.8 Bcf/d; about 434 miles of new pipeline plus compression, metering and interconnect facilities; total project cost about $4.2 billion, with KMI share about $1.6 billion | Q3 2030, subject to permits and approvals |
| Bear Creek Storage Expansion | SNG and Tennessee Gas Pipeline reached final investment decision | About $160 million total project cost, with KMI share about $120 million; base-gas conversion and facility expansion to support leasing about 10 Bcf of storage capacity to TGP | April 2029, subject to permits and approvals |
Kinder Morgan said the Southeast Connector Project is designed to move up to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day of gas to growing Southeast markets. The company said the project is supported by sufficient long-term, take-or-pay transportation agreements, while final capacity and capital-expenditure levels will depend on the ultimate project scope.
The Permian Link Project is designed to provide about 2.8 Bcf/d of transportation capacity for new power generation serving an A-rated hyperscaler. Kinder Morgan said the project is supported by long-term, take-or-pay transportation agreements. The release does not name the hyperscaler or disclose the individual project sites it would serve.
Other project milestones reported
Kinder Morgan said it sanctioned a $95 million second phase and a $55 million third phase of the Creekside Lateral Project following additional long-term, take-or-pay agreements with data-center and industrial customers. With all phases complete, the approximately $235 million intrastate project is expected to provide more than 750 MMcf/d of contracted natural-gas transportation in Central Texas. The company said it expects phased in-service dates in Q4 2026 and Q4 2027, subject to permits and approvals.
On the KinderHawk gathering system, the more than $500 million Plantation North Expansion Project is nearing completion, according to Kinder Morgan. The company said the project is supported by life-of-lease acreage dedications and is expected to be completed by year-end 2026.
Kinder Morgan also updated terminal work at the Houston Ship Channel. The company said it is advancing a roughly $139 million project involving in-tank blending enhancements and two proposed dedicated refined-products pipelines between its Pasadena Terminal and a nearby major refinery. It separately reported a roughly $30 million expansion of the 1.5-million-barrel Kinder Morgan Export Terminal. The reported in-service targets are Q3 2027 and Q1 2027, respectively.
Backlog growth and reported financial context
Kinder Morgan reported third-quarter net income attributable to the company of $764 million, adjusted EBITDA of $2.18 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $0.35. The company said adjusted EBITDA was 9% higher and adjusted earnings per share was 21% higher than the third quarter of 2025.
The $14.4 billion expansion backlog was $4.7 billion higher than the second-quarter 2026 figure, according to Kinder Morgan. The company said a larger $13.7 billion portion of the backlog represents stable, primarily take-or-pay cash flows, and it expects projects in that portion of the backlog to generate an aggregate first-full-year Project EBITDA multiple of approximately 5.7 times if realized.
What remains conditional
Final investment decision is a material project milestone, but it does not eliminate permitting, regulatory, commercial or execution risk. Kinder Morgan explicitly conditioned the reported in-service dates for the projects on timely receipt and continued effectiveness of necessary permits and approvals.
The release does not identify engineering, procurement or construction contractors for the Southeast Connector, Permian Link, Bear Creek or Creekside projects. It also does not disclose final project budgets for every element, construction-start dates, procurement packages, route maps or equipment orders. Those details should not be inferred from the reported backlog, capital estimates or stated in-service targets.
What the disclosed configurations could ultimately involve
Allstream supply-chain perspective: Based solely on the configurations disclosed by Kinder Morgan—not on announced procurement packages—the projects could ultimately require work across several infrastructure categories:
- New-pipeline systems: The Southeast Connector and Permian Link descriptions identify hundreds of miles of new pipeline. If those projects progress through execution, the work could include line pipe, fittings, valves, coatings, associated civil work and pipeline-construction services.
- Compression facilities: Both projects include new or expanded compression in Kinder Morgan’s reported scope. Potential future requirements could include compressor and driver packages, station piping, controls, electrical systems, instrumentation and mechanical installation.
- Metering and interconnect facilities: Permian Link specifically includes metering and interconnect facilities. That configuration could involve measurement equipment, control systems, valves and related site integration.
- Storage and terminal modifications: The Bear Creek expansion and Houston Ship Channel terminal projects identify facility-expansion, blending and dedicated-pipeline elements. The release does not provide enough detail to identify component packages or suppliers for those scopes.
These are potential work categories inferred from the company’s stated physical configuration, not announced bid packages, contractor opportunities or equipment awards. Kinder Morgan did not name suppliers, contractors or specific equipment packages, and it did not disclose pumping equipment for the projects discussed in the release.
Allstream perspective: Backlog additions move several gas projects from concept toward execution
Allstream perspective: Kinder Morgan’s third-quarter update provides more than a financial-results snapshot. The company disclosed final investment decisions for two large pipeline projects, detailed associated pipeline and compression scope, and set out additional sanctioned projects serving Central Texas, Southeast demand and storage markets. The reported focus on power generation and local-distribution-company demand also gives context for why gas-transportation capacity is expanding across multiple regions.
Still, project execution remains conditional. The Southeast Connector and Permian Link schedules are years away and expressly depend on permits and approvals. For infrastructure-market participants, the most decision-useful future milestones will be project-specific regulatory outcomes, construction authorizations, finalized scopes and named contractor or supplier awards—not the backlog total alone.
