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Kinder Morgan Energy Partners Announces Agreements for New LNG Pipeline Project; Initiates Open Season

Posted on: Thursday, 22 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

HOUSTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. today announced the start of a binding open season for its proposed Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline that would provide take-away capacity from the Cheniere Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant now under construction in Cameron Parish, La. The company plans to invest approximately $490 million to build a new interstate natural gas pipeline that would originate at the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal and extend approximately 137 miles connecting to various interstate and intrastate pipelines and ending in Evangeline Parish, La.

"LNG is expected to be very important in meeting America's future energy needs and this project represents an exciting growth opportunity for KMP," said Richard D. Kinder, KMP's chairman and CEO. "Kinder Morgan's existing pipeline network, combined with our operating expertise, positions us well to provide needed infrastructure to transport regasified LNG to the marketplace."

The new pipeline would consist of two segments: 1) a 137-mile large- diameter pipeline with firm capacity of about 2.1 million dekatherms per day (Dth/d) connecting to various interstate and intrastate pipelines within Louisiana; and 2) a 1-mile pipeline with firm capacity of about 1.3 million Dth/d connecting to Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc. . KMP has already obtained prearranged conditional agreements from multiple shippers for the combined 3.4 million Dth/d of initial project capacity. As a new interstate pipeline, the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline would be subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction.

By offering interconnects with various interstate pipelines in south central Louisiana, including NGPL, the proposed project would provide access to the nation's pipeline grid for new supplies of LNG. To gauge further shipper interest in committing for additional capacity on the project, KMP is conducting a binding open season that begins Sept. 22, 2005, and continues until 3 p.m. CDT on Oct. 12, 2005. Pending the various shipper and regulatory approvals, the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline could be in service as early as the first quarter of 2009.

Shippers seeking additional information on the project should contact Norman Watson at (713) 369-9219 or Kim Watson at (713) 369-9233. Further details and materials are also available on Kinder Morgan's web site (http://www.kindermorgan.com/ ).

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America. KMP owns or operates more than 25,000 miles of pipelines and approximately 145 terminals. Its pipelines transport more than 2 million barrels per day of gasoline and other petroleum products and up to 8.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Its terminals handle over 80 million tons of coal and other dry-bulk materials annually and have a liquids storage capacity of approximately 65 million barrels for petroleum products and chemicals. KMP is also the leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in the United States.

The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc., one of the largest energy transportation and storage companies in America. Combined, the two companies have an enterprise value of approximately $31 billion.

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although Kinder Morgan believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that such assumptions will materialize. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements herein are enumerated in Kinder Morgan's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.

CONTACT: Rick Rainey, Media Relations, +1-713-369-9452, or Mindy Mills,Investor Relations, +1-713-369-9490, both of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners,L.P.

Web site: http://www.kindermorgan.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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