July 18 (Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Canada KML.TO on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit that nearly halved, as it moved lower volumes of crude oil through its pipeline and its interest expenses also rose due to the pending sale of its Trans Mountain pipeline.
The pipeline operator agreed to sell the Trans Mountain line to the Canadian government in May, after facing months of opposition to its expansion from environmentalists and other groups.
The company's largest pipeline by capacity moved 293,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude and refined products, down from 303,000 bbl/d a year earlier.
Kinder Morgan Canada said it would restart the construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline's expansion in August after halting work in the spring.
Interest expense rose to C$56.9 million ($43.22 million) in the quarter from C$2.9 million a year earlier. The company said its 2017 credit facilities were terminated and replaced with temporary credit facilities due to the pending sale of the pipeline.
The company also said it was withdrawing all prior earnings forecast because of the sale.
Net income fell to C$13.7 million, or 2 Canadian cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from C$25.1 million, or 11 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. rose to C$178.0 million from C$168.7 million.
Parent Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) KMI.N posted a loss of $130 million, compared with a profit of $383 million a year earlier. ($1 = 1.3164 Canadian dollars)