Kinder Morgan/Copano Joint Venture to Provide Additional Gathering, Processing and Fractionation Capacity for Eagle Ford Shale Producers

HOUSTON, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and Copano Energy, L.L.C. (Nasdaq: CPNO) today announced plans to expand the scope of their Eagle Ford Gathering LLC joint venture.  Eagle Ford Gathering will provide more than 200,000 MMBtu per day of incremental gathering and processing capacity to producers in the Eagle Ford Shale through construction of additional pipeline facilities and a long-term agreement with Formosa Hydrocarbons Company (Formosa) for additional processing and fractionation services.

In addition to 111 miles of pipeline currently under construction, Eagle Ford Gathering will build a 54-mile, 24-inch diameter crossover pipeline between existing Kinder Morgan pipelines, and an additional 20-mile, 20-inch diameter pipeline that will enable the joint venture to deliver gas to Formosa.  Kinder Morgan will construct and operate the two additional pipelines.  Eagle Ford Gathering recently executed an agreement with Formosa to support its gas processing and fractionation needs, and expand operational flexibility.

Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan's Texas Intrastate Pipelines Group, said, "We are pleased to enter into this significant new agreement with Formosa, which will provide them with long-term supplies of NGL feedstocks and also make additional processing and fractionation capacity available to the joint venture as early as the fourth quarter of 2011.  The crossover pipeline will have capacity in excess of 400 million cubic feet per day, which will give the joint venture additional options to provide services to Eagle Ford Shale producers."

"This expansion of our joint venture with Kinder Morgan provides significant additional capacity for Eagle Ford Shale producers and will allow the joint venture to more fully utilize the 600 million cubic feet per day of capacity on its 30-inch pipeline," said R. Bruce Northcutt, Copano Energy's president and chief executive officer.  "We expect this additional capacity to be substantially contracted for by early 2011.  We are also pleased with the new long-term relationship with Formosa, which brings additional market diversity for the expected growing volume of natural gas liquids from this play."

Kinder Morgan and Copano will invest approximately $100 million to construct the crossover pipeline and related facilities and expect to complete the new facilities by year-end 2011.  Eagle Ford Gathering's previously announced approximately $175 million, 30-inch pipeline in the western portion of the shale play is under construction and remains on schedule to be completed in the third quarter of 2011.  Copano will serve as operator of the 30-inch pipeline and serves as managing member of Eagle Ford Gathering.

About Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. is a leading pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America.  KMP owns an interest in or operates approximately 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 bulk materials like coal and petroleum coke.  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 $30 billion.  The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc., a private company.  Kinder Morgan Management is a limited partner in KMP and manages and controls its business and affairs.  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 eight 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: price volatility and market demand for natural gas and natural gas liquids; the impact on volumes and resulting cash flow of technological, economic and other uncertainties inherent in estimating future production, producers' ability to drill, successfully complete and attach new natural gas supplies and the availability of downstream transportation systems and other facilities for natural gas and NGLs; higher construction costs or project delays due to inflation, limited availability of required resources or the effects of numerous environmental, legal or other uncertainties; general economic conditions; and the effects of government regulations and policies.  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 Copano Energy, L.L.C.; Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.

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