Kinder Morgan to offer ethanol pipeline service

October 6, 2008

BY Susanne Retka Schill

Web exclusive posted Oct. 17, 2008 at 9:59 a.m. CST

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP recently completed a series of tests to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of transporting batched denatured ethanol in its 16-inch gasoline pipeline between Tampa and Orlando, Fla. The company is finalizing mechanical modifications to the pipeline and intends to begin offering the ethanol service by mid-November. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has approved $27 million to further expand its ethanol handling capabilities in the Southeast market.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners is also evaluating other opportunities for transportation of batched ethanol in its pipeline portfolio. In addition, the company has completed more than $60 million in ethanol projects including modifications to tanks, truck racks and related infrastructure for new or expanded ethanol service at various terminals in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners owns an interest in, or operates, more than 25,000 miles of pipelines and 165 terminals handling petroleum products. Having successfully tested moving ethanol in its central Florida pipeline system, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners is now assessing biodiesel transport. In mid-October the company said it is currently testing a movement of B5 in a segment of the Plantation Pipe Line system that transports gasoline and diesel from Collins, Miss., to Spartanburg, S.C. Kinder Morgan, a 51 percent owner and the operator of Plantation Pipe Line Co., expects test results to be available by the end of October. The company is also evaluating the transportation of biodiesel in its Portland to Eugene, Ore., pipeline to support the forthcoming biodiesel mandate in Oregon.

"We are pursuing pipeline solutions to the overall supply chain for biofuels," said Tom Bannigan, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners products president. "We look forward to working with producers and our shippers as we continue to assess the optimum transportation and storage logistics for meeting the demand for alternative fuels in the market place."

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