(Adds details, shares)
June 28 (Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) KMI.N said it had
agreed to sell half its stake in an Ohio pipeline project to
private equity firm Riverstone Investment Group LLC for an
undisclosed amount.
Riverstone will make an upfront cash payment to Kinder
Morgan, including reimbursement for 50 percent share of its
previous capital expenditure on the $500 million project, the
pipeline company said on Tuesday.
The private equity firm will also fund its share of future
capital expenditure needed to complete the construction and
commissioning of the pipeline.
Kinder Morgan shares rose 2.6 percent to $17.86 in morning
trading.
Private equity funds around the world, with a cash pile of
around $1 trillion, are looking to snap up oil and gas assets
made cheaper by the drop in oil prices.
The Utopia Pipeline project, which stretches from Harrison
County to Fulton County, has a capacity of 50,000 barrels per
day and became operational at the beginning of 2018.
The pipeline will connect to Kinder Morgan's existing
infrastructure that transports ethane and ethane-propane
mixtures to Ontario, Canada.