Kinder Morgan quarterly profit falls on lower natgas volume

(Reuters) – U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc reported a 10% drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday as a steep drop in natural gas prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic hurt production and transportation of fuel.

Pipeline companies have been forced to offer steep discounts to customers for moving crude, gas and refined products on their pipelines as the oil and gas industry grapples with weak energy demand and production shut ins due to the pandemic.

Kinder Morgan, which transports nearly 40% of the natural gas consumed in the United States, said earnings fell 1% for its gas pipelines and 20% for its product pipelines. Natural gas transport volumes were down 2%.

Net profit available to the company fell to $455 million, or 20 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $506 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Kinder Morgan earned 21 cents per share, in line with Wall Street estimates, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Bernard Orr)