Kinder Morgan-Copano Increase Presence in Eagle Ford Shale With New Long Term Contracts

HOUSTON, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO), today announced the execution of two long-term agreements to provide transportation, processing and fractionation services to Petrohawk Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: HK) and Rosetta Resources Operating LP, an affiliate of Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) two of the leading operators in the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas.

Eagle Ford Gathering has contracted with Petrohawk for up to 50,000 MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production from leases in LaSalle and McMullen Counties, Texas, and with Rosetta for up to 50,000 MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production from leases in Webb and Dimmit Counties, Texas. Each agreement has an approximate term of 10 years.

Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan's Intrastate Pipeline Group, said, "With the addition of these two agreements, the joint venture has contracted for a total of 550,000 MMBtu per day of Eagle Ford Shale natural gas production.  There continues to be strong interest from producers for additional capacity, and the joint venture is evaluating projects to expand its ability to handle natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale play."

"We are pleased to add Petrohawk and Rosetta to the growing number of producers who have selected Eagle Ford Gathering as a midstream provider," said Jim Wade, President and Chief Operating Officer of Copano Energy's Texas segment.

Eagle Ford Gathering's previously announced 30-inch pipeline in the western Eagle Ford Shale play is under construction and is expected to begin service in the third quarter of 2011. After fully subscribing its initial processing capacity of 375,000 MMBtu per day at Copano's Houston Central plant, the joint venture recently announced plans to construct 72 miles of additional pipelines and associated compression that will enable the joint venture to deliver Eagle Ford production to Formosa Hydrocarbons Company's Point Comfort Plant and Williams Field Services' Markham Plant for processing. These incremental pipelines and facilities, which are expected to be completed by year end, will enable the joint venture to more fully utilize the 600 MMcf per day capacity of its 30-inch line.  

About Kinder Morgan Energy Partners

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) is a leading pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America.  KMP owns an interest in or operates more than 28,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals.  Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and handle such products as ethanol, coal, petroleum coke and steel.  KMP is also the leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America.  One of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America, KMP has an enterprise value of over $33 billion.  The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI).  Combined, KMI and KMP have an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion.  For more information please visit www.kindermorgan.com.

About Copano Energy, L.L.C.

Houston-based Copano Energy, L.L.C. (NASDAQ: CPNO) is a midstream natural gas company with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and Louisiana.  Its assets include approximately 6,400 miles of active natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 250 miles of NGL pipelines and ten natural gas processing plants, with over one Bcf per day of combined processing capacity and 22,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity. For more information please visit www.copanoenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements.  Although Kinder Morgan and Copano Energy believe that their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, they can give no assurance that such assumptions will materialize or that the proposed transactions will be consummated.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this release include: the impact of inflation on project costs and the availability of required resources; the effects on the project schedule, project costs, or both, of numerous regulatory, environmental, political, legal and operational uncertainties; the impact on volumes and resulting cash flow of technological, economic and other uncertainties inherent in estimating future production and producers' ability to drill and successfully complete and attach new natural gas supplies, and the availability of downstream transportation systems and other facilities for natural gas and NGLs. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in the risk factors sections of Kinder Morgan's and Copano Energy's Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.; Copano Energy, L.L.C.