Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI)

[benfrankledger]

$KMI Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) says recent events confirm that an investment in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion may be “untenable” and that the Canadian government’s pledge of financial support does not resolve political risk related to British Columbia’s opposition.

"It has become clear this particular investment may be untenable for a private party to undertake. The events of the last 10 days have confirmed those views,” KMI CEO Steven Kean said during this afternoon's earnings conference call.

B.C. said today that it would file a legal challenge by the end of this month to determine whether it has the jurisdiction to stop the C$7.5B project, which was approved by the federal government in 2016.
The legal process would tie the project up in court past KMI's May 31 deadline set earlier this month to scrap the expansion unless all legal and jurisdictional challenges are resolved.

Separately, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec - Canada's second largest pension fund manager - disclosed it held 10.2M shares of Kinder Morgan Canada as of year-end 2017, potentially bringing it into the Trans Mountain dispute; it is not known how many shares Caisse currently holds.

Kinder Morgan Canada (OTCPK:KMLGF), which was spun off from its parent company last May, today reported Q1 net income of C$44.4M (US$35.1M), down 5% from C$46.8M for the same period last year.