Kinder Morgan's (KMI) latest quarterly report shows the ninth straight quarter for less than expected quarterly revenues from oil and gas operations, according to Reuters' latest report.
Fixed-fee contracts had once saved pipeline companies from the down-swings of the ailing oil price market, but cash-strapped energy transport firms have had to renegotiate their agreements to keep up with the realities of a post-2014 barrel-price market.
Kinder Morgan shareholders gained $170 million in net profit, or eight cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2016. A year earlier, fourth quarter results put losses at $721 million.
The Houston-based company has faced legal challenges from First Nation communities in Canada for its Trans Mountain pipeline extension project. The Coldwater Indian Band near Merritt, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, and the Squamish Nation held a joint conference in Vancouver this week to cover their concerns regarding the plan.
"It is our Standing Rock," Coldwater Indian Band Chief Leo Spahan said. "It is about our drinking water. The existing Kinder Morgan pipeline was built through our reserve and above our aquifer at a time when it was illegal for us to vote or hire a lawyer ...The Crown's decision to put our drinking water at risk...is profoundly troubling."
Related: The U.S. Is Shaping Up For Another Pipeline Saga
The tribal leader referred to recent years as the "era of reconciliation" since the "old status of colonial imposition to ride roughshod over Aboriginal rights: will no longer be acceptable in future civil rights stances.
Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion will nearly triple the existing line's capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 bpd when completed. The Canadian government as well as British Columbia have given the go-ahead for the pipeline, but environmental and First Nations groups have promised to protest the pipeline.
Kinder Morgan reported fourth quarter revenue of $3.39 billion, down from $3.64 billion in the previous quarter.
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on… More